The Big-5 faces more competition than ever
It’s the biggest show in town, but is it still the best? CMME looks at who’s coming to the Big-5 this week.
Another year and another Big-5 rolls into Dubai. Generally regarded as the leading construction show in the region, the event pretty much covers the range of construction from foundation to hotel fountains. It’s big by name and big by nature.
Attracting exhibitors from across the globe to Dubai’s venerable World Trade Centre, few could argue that when it comes to getting an entire industry under one roof it does an admirable job. However the show’s relationship with heavy equipment has not always been an easy one.
Its location within the World Trade Centre means that it is easily accessible to anyone travelling to the region. One of the criticism of the recent Intermat Middle East event in Abu Dhabi was the location and distance visitors were expected to travel from Dubai, where they either work or will have been doing business.
At Big-5 and specifically the heavy equipment event PMV Live, there are no such excuses. But there are other issues that dog the event in the eyes of many in the sector.
Heavy equipment best lends itself to large open environments where exhibitors can lay out their entire ranges. Travel to Intermat in Paris or Bauma in China or Conexpo in Las Vegas you will see stands the size of small villages.
At these events, you will also see live demonstrations from most major manufacturers. Even if you’re not a fan of cheerleaders, Aerosmith or acrobats, you cannot fail to be impressed by the chorography and spectacle.
Those expecting a Bauma style event will be dissapointed by PMV Live. Space is limited with the centre and the outdoor area is also tight and compact.
JCB has refused to repeat its Dancing Digger show seen at previous events and last year’s headline act Sany is rumoured to be upset at its results from 2011, despite shifting a few million dollars in kit at the event.
While it may lack its previous spectacle, organisers dmg:Events must be commended for taking machinery seriously by bringing the PMV Live back under its wing after the event was run by another organiser for a couple of years.
A few years ago, the machinery show was housed at Dubai Airport. In terms of the size and space the event made a lot of sense. It certainly meant that exhibitors could finally present their machines in the way they intended.
The downside was that it left machinery ghettoised and exhibitors split between having the outdoor area and supporting their national pavillions still back at the World Trade Centre. The net result was an event that suited some people but left many more dissatisfied.
With the downturn the event was once again re-united to Big 5 but again failed to appeal to enough exhibitors, again leaving them with a choice of location at the back of the World Trade Centre (lost behind the marketstalls of the Chinese Pavillion), the outdoor area, and the advantages of buddying up and sharing costs inside their own national pavillions.
With dmg:Events taking the show back under the wing last year, 2011 was the best show in some time. Outside you had a good mixture of companies such as Sany, XCMG and MAN Trucks while inside there was a strong representation from a variety of smaller companies.
It is a shame then that a look through this year’s exhibitor list shows that many companies – and strong players – have either chosen to use Intermat Middle East as their major expo or decided to avoid the event all together. The exhibition remains the main event of course and in that regard it does feature Wolffkran, serial exhibition veterants NFT Cranes, Doosan, Jubaili Bros, XGMA, Bauer, MAN Trucks and Instant Access. It is also 50% larger than last year. (Presumably much of the extra area is inside Saaed Hall, given the lack of space outside).
It is a good line-up but missing a few notable past stars of the show including JCB and Sany and some that were at InterMat Middle East a few weeks before such as Terex Finlay and Liebherr.
This is the year that the event needs to really prove its worth or risk losing the sector’s attention entirely.
To that end, dmg:Events have made the sensible decision of pitching it as a regional event. For them it is a difficult balancing act as the company is currently expanding the brand across the GCC but given the flat-ish nature of the market in Dubai, what other option did they have?