The hard work put in by companies in the sector and by the event’s organisers has paid off: the 26^th International Machine-Tool Biennial (BIEMH), scheduled for May 31 – June 5, will feature a total of 1085 international manufacturers, importers and distributors.

In these especially difficult times, the event has strengthened its support for exhibiting firms by rewarding their commitment with financial incentives and promotional offers, seeking to provide a key foothold for development and an effective tool for maximising international impact.

This has been the main objective since the 2010 campaign began more than a year ago. Its culmination will come in the next few days, when thousands of trade specialists from all over the world visit the Bilbao Exhibition Centre, drawn by a comprehensive, highly competitive event with a strong international profile.

The current situation of the sector is complex, but over a thousand exhibitors from 24 countries have placed their confidence in the BIEMH as a leading event and a sound, representative showcase for their products and services.

This is one of the biggest events of its kind in Europe, a fact which is evidenced by the presence of such major names as ABB, BLM, CMZ Machinery Group, Curvaser, Danobat, DMG, Durmazlar-Mahenor, Fagor, Fanuc, Fresmak, Goiti, Goratu, Gurutzpe, Ibarmia, Intermaher, Kuka, Lincoln, Lomusa, Mori Seiki, Nicolás Correa, Ona, Sariki, Tornos, Trumph, Unceta and Zayer.

Germany and Italy are benchmark countries for the world’s machine tool industry and both will feature heavily in the BIEMH as part of the 42% of foreign exhibitors. BIEMH 2010 will also boast firms from Argentina, Austria, Belgium, South Korea, Denmark, Slovakia, the USA, France, the Netherlands, Israel, Japan, Poland, Portugal, the UK, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, China and India.

China and India will also be represented by their national manufacturing associations – the China Machine Tool & Tool Builders Association and the Indian Machine Tool Manufacturers’ Association – which will be taking part in the event for the first time.

The sectors with the largest number of exhibitors are Shaping Machine-tool Firms (which make up 17% of the total) and Cutting Machine-tool Firms (16%). The other sectors represented are Tools for Machine Tools, Accessories, Workshop and Business Services, Metrology and Quality Control, Other Machinery and Equipment, Welding and Flame-Cutting, Handling and Robotics, CAD/CAM/CAE and Hydraulic or Pneumatic Equipment.

As on previous occasions, the BIEMH is sectoralised: this year there are 12 sectors. Cutting Machine-tool firms will occupy the whole of Hall 1 at the Exhibition Centre, while Hall 2 will be shared by Welding, Handling and Robotics. Hall 3 will house Tools, Accessories, Automation and Hydraulics/Pneumatics firms and Hall 5 will be occupied by Shaping Machines, Laser Marking, Metrology and CAD/CAM/CAE.

One of the reasons why the international machine tool industry is so competitive is that it invests heavily in innovation and technological development, even when times are hard. Manufacturers from the leading countries continue to allocate a significant part of their turnover to the funding of R&D&i projects as a key element in leadership.

The results of their efforts will be on display over the next few days at the Bilbao Exhibition Centre as exhibitors show off their most advanced machinery, their most innovative products and the latest advances in technology, seeking to distinguish themselves from their competitors and assert themselves in the presence of purchasers from all over the world.

The innovations on show this year include a mixed system for laser cutting tubes and plate (LT COMBO by BLM), a large vertical lathe for wind turbines (by BOST), tubular wire for submerged arc work which considerably reduces completion times compared to conventional solid wire and increases productivity (by COMERCIAL AUTOGENA Y ELÉCTRICA), a moving-upright milling machine for ensuring that tools can reach the required machining area when manufacturing large workpieces (by GORATU) and a crane-handling system based on the position and gestures of the user, using high-resolution cameras located on the train itself (by INFAIMON).

There will also be a tool-post for moving-head lathes unlike any other on the market (by MADAULA), an automatic strapping machine capable of handling polyester strapping of sizes from 32 mm to 41 mm (by SAIZAR), the smallest articulated arm threader equipped with an electric motor on the market (by TECNOSPIRO), a 3-D quality inspection robot for the automotive industry that enables 100% of output to be inspected without contact (by TEKNIKER), a “perfect cut” system capable of detecting cutting quality directly during the process and correcting the parameters if they do not meet the required standard (by PRIMA), new ranges of vertical machining centres (by LAGUN) and the Robocaster, a system for manual guidance and memorising of points and paths via a stress control sensor fitted on the flange of a robot (by KUKA).

The machine tool industry is one of the most international in our whole industrial fabric. It has customers all over the world. Combined with the global nature and high standard of the products on show at BIEMH 2010, this will attract thousands of trade visitors from different areas, representing the automotive, aeronautical, railway, renewable energy and capital goods industries, among others. Many have already registered for the event, and many more are expected to turn up when it opens on May 31.

Organised visits for foreign commercial delegations a strong feature of BIEMH. These delegations are made up mostly of high-ranking personnel from all over the world, mostly CEOs, company owners and purchasing managers, and are therefore of great strategic value to the event.

Groups of purchasers from more than 30 countries have confirmed their attendance this year, including representatives of such major firms as MABE from Mexico, EMBRAER, SCANIA and VOLKSWAGEN from Brazil and ENERCON, DIESEL LOCOMOTIVE WORKS and SUZLON from India, among many others.

This programme of visits is the result of co-ordinated efforts by the network of offices of SPRI (Association for the Promotion and Restructuring of Industry, an organisation answerable to the Basque Government), direct agents of the Bilbao Exhibition Centre abroad and the trade offices of ICEX (Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade).

Brazil, Mexico, USA, Germany, France, the Czech Republic, Poland, China, India and the Maghreb countries are the markets to which priority has been allocated in the campaign to attract visitors to this year’s BIEMH. On the domestic front, the regions prioritised of the Basque Country itself, Spain’s eastern seaboard, Catalonia and Madrid.

Taking advantage of the forum provided by BIEMH, AMFE (the Association of Electrical Material Manufacturers) and the manufacturers who belong to the Committee for Publicising the Machinery Directive have organised a seminar at which they will report on the main new features of the Directive which came into force last December, superseding the previous directive after 20 years.

This seminar is scheduled for Tuesday, June 1, and will feature a keynote speaker representing the Machinery Inspection Department of the National Institute for Safety and Health at Work, answerable to the Ministry of Labour and Immigration. The seminar is one of the actions implemented by AMFE, with the support of eight member manufacturers specialising in industrial safety, to help the market learn the main implications of these new regulations (transposed via Royal Decree 1644/08)

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