CENS Continues Promoting Trade and Buyers Guides in March

To help Taiwanese manufacturers, exporters and traders explore world markets, CENS attended six international trade shows in March, including Malaysian International Furniture Fair (MIFF), LED Next Stage, International Hardware Fair Cologne, International Auto Aftermarket Expo (IAAE) Tokyo, The Indonesia International auto Parts, Accessories and Equip Exhibition & Conference (INPA), and China International Furniture Fair (CIFF) Guangzhou.

MIFF

The Malaysian International Furniture Fair (MIFF) attracted 500 exhibitors to celebrate its 20th anniversary this year at the Putra World Trade Center (PWTC) and nearby Matrade Exhibition & Convention Center (MECC) in Kuala Lumpur Mar. 4-8.

The trade show has grown from 152 Malaysian exhibitors and 2,500 overseas buyers in 1995 to this year's 500 local and international exhibitors, also attracting over 6,000 overseas buyers from around the world.

Exhibitors attending MIFF 2014 came from 13 countries and regions, including Malaysia, China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, the United States, India, Spain, Turkey, Australia etc.,  across an exhibition area of 80,000 square meters.

Exhibitors look to MIFF 2014 as a gateway to Southeast Asia, a market targeted by increasing buyers from the emerging markets of Africa, the Middle East, South America, East Europe and South Asia.

A signature event held alongside the trade show was the MIFF Furniture Design Competition, which featured 10 talented young designers with 11 entries rising above the 244 in total selected by an international jury. Another major draw for visitors were the topical industry seminars that addressed intellectual property for the furniture industry in Malaysia, the award-winning U.S.-patented high temperature drying technology for rubber wood by the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia and green technology products.

A local representative promoted CENS buyer guides at the show, with CENS Furniture attracting ample interest.

LED Next Stage

LED Next Stage is one of Japan's leading lighting fairs, presenting a vast array of the newest LED and OLED lighting products that are essential elements of comfortably lit spaces in offices, shops, and homes. The fair also features the latest devices, parts, materials, control systems, and measuring equipment.

LED Next Stage 2014, held Mar. 4-7 at Tokyo Big Sight, hosted about 300 exhibitors across 650 booths that drew around 70,000 visitors. The showground was divided into general lighting zone; new-use application zone; device, parts, and materials zone; and measurement & testing systems zone.

Japan's market for LED light bulbs has grown significantly since the aftermath of the 311 Earthquake of 2011. Unlike other countries, Japan's LED-lighting market has been mostly driven by households. Last year Japanese LED-lighting makers mainly focused on indoor applications by rolling out light bulbs, panel lights, and ceiling lamps for households and stores.

The show's visitors were mainly professionals from the construction industry and designers of architecture, space planning, interior decoration as well as lighting manufacturers, retailers and distributors.

The CENS booth at the show displayed various buyer guides, with CENS Lighting capturing ample attention among buyers and visitors.

International Hardware Fair Cologne

With a history of over five decades, the International Hardware Fair Cologne is a major global exhibition of hardware. This year the fair, held Mar.9-12 at the Cologne Exhibition Center, Cologne, Germany, entered its 39th edition and was regarded quite successful as the event drew 2,783 exhibitors from 53 countries for a rise of 4.5% from the previous one.

The exhibitors confirmed the positioning of the trade fair as the leading international business and innovation hub of the hardware industry. The number of trade visitors remained stable at around 50,000 from 136 countries with increasing global presence.

The exhibition space of 142,000 square meters was segmented into several zones: Tool, Industrial Supply, Fasteners & Fixings, Fittings and Home Improvement. The fair experienced the largest growth in the segments Tools and Industrial Supply, due to prominent suppliers returning to the fair as exhibitors, such as Beta Utensili, Friedr.Dick and Hugo Brennenstuhl.

The trends at the fair oriented toward  improved efficiency, ergonomics and digitization across all segments. The providers of power tools presented more and more  brushless motors, which make the tools increasingly more lightweight and powerful, also being more maintenance-free. This goes hand in hand with an improved battery pack technology. The emphasis was placed on efficiency and comfort in the Lamps sector. At the very forefront: LED technology, which on average use up to 80% less energy than conventional light source while offering a service life of up to 50,000 hours.

Among the accessory products, lockable padded compartments as well as powerful brakes for the increased stability of workshop trolleys are currently very popular. Furthermore, extremely anti-slip retrofit kits that are simply clipped onto ladder provide extra stability for tradesmen. In the house and building technology sector the trend is moving towards mobile communications: Impressive technology was presented ranging from a control app for plug socket through to energy-saving radio technology for blinds and marquees.

The CENS booth at the show displayed a variety of buyer guides, with CENS Hardware and Taiwan Industrial Suppliers being the most popular among visitors and buyers.

IAAE Tokyo

The International Auto Aftermarket Expo (IAAE) Tokyo is a gateway for future auto aftermarket businesses eyeing next-generation automobiles and Asian markets, an event designed for auto-related trading houses, automakers, auto parts makers, car accessories shops and maintenance service providers.

This year the fair, held Mar. 12-14 at Tokyo Big Sight, Tokyo, Japan, entered its 12th edition and featured solutions for lighter and computerized automobiles as well as being a platform for exchanging business, information and trends related to the auto aftermarket, from hand tool, auto equipment, maintenance & repair to infrastructure.

CENS sent a representative to promote its buyer guides at the show, with Taiwan Transportation Equipment guide (TTG) and China Transportation Equipment Guide (CTG) drawing ample attention.

INAPA

The Indonesia International Auto Parts, Accessories and Equip Exhibition & Conference (INAPA) is an annual international trade exhibition for automotive support industries in Indonesia and has in recent years developed into one of the leading trade fairs in Southeast Asia for automotive parts, accessories, equipment and services.

INAPA 2014, held Mar. 19-22 at Jakarta International Expo, Jakarta, Indonesia, was a sourcing platform to attract quality buyers from the whole automotive industry chain from car manufacturers, distributors and repair workshops to car service centers.

The four-day event drew 1,000 manufacturers and companies across an area of 25,000 square meters that attracted about 50,000 trade and professional visitors and buyers. Among the exhibited items were mainly automotive parts & systems, accessories, and electronic devices as well as tools, dies and related machines.

CENS sent a local representative to promote its buyer guides, with TTG, CTG and Taiwan Industrial Suppliers being highly welcome among buyers and visitors.

CIFF Guangzhou

China International Furniture Fair (CIFF) Guangzhou is a biannual furniture show—one in the spring and the other in the autumn—with one focusing on the home and the other office. This year the spring office furniture fair ran Mar. 28 to Apr. 1 at China Import & Export Fair Complex, Guangzhou, China.

The fair attracted about 900 exhibitors to showcase products in an area of 220,000 square meters, as well as over 60,000 visitors with one-fourth being foreign buyers from all over the world.

The products displayed focused on products influenced by international trends in the industry: meaning increasingly greater attention paid to eco-sustainability, quality of work spaces, job sharing and sharing work spaces; products that are ergonomically designed, flexible and modular to create various configurations; use of color and great attention to detail and the combination of various materials to offer greater wellbeing and increased productivity.

CENS sent local representatives to promote product-sourcing magazines, with CENS Furniture being highly popular. (JL)