For more than three decades, easyFairs MAINTEC has been the event for asset management and condition monitoring.

Showcasing the latest developments in hazard detection and predictive maintenance technologies, MAINTEC has become an industry byword for cost and efficiency savings Like all successful trade shows, easyFairs MAINTEC has evolved…and the 2009 event, at Birmingham’s NEC from 17-19 March, is no different.

Suppliers of mechanical equipment, lubricants, buildings and facilities management, and energy efficient products will feature more prominently; there’s a new easyFairs MAINTEC Summit where key industry issues will be debated; and plans are in place to introduce a ‘Student Zone’ where exhibitors and visitors can chat with engineering innovators of tomorrow.

As a result, it continually attracts event newcomers to exhibit alongside easyFairs MAINTEC stalwarts who have used the show as a platform to meet influential industry professionals for many years.

New product launches

Almost 100 companies are already committed to next year’s show (organisers are confident of surpassing the 2008 tally of 150 exhibitors) with around 10 per cent appearing for the first time.

Amongst the debutants are circuit breaker retrofit specialists Santon; cable supplier Lapp Group; Leicestershire-based Enercom – which offers instruments to monitor and meter electrical grid networks to protect against power disruptions – and multi-key management solution providers Keytracker.

Others include Olympus Industrial – a leading manufacturer of advanced testing instruments such as remote visual inspection devices, ultrasound, eddy current, and high-speed video – and Eurotron, experts in calibrators, infrared thermometers and combustion gas analysers.

And the added focus on industrial facilities management providers has led to Promanex – an industrial support operation in Hurley, Warwickshire, that offers traditional FM, asset management, and maintenance services – signing up to easyFairs MAINTEC 2009.

Promanex Group Marketing and Communications Manager, Gemma Tunley, said: “We’ve chosen MAINTEC as it gives us the opportunity to promote our services to key industry buyers and decision-makers, and the handy, central location makes it an easy event to man.

“As a company, we’re committed to reducing the environmental impact of our activities, so I was delighted to learn of easyFairs’ eco credentials and that they’re a low-carbon footprint trade show.”

Several multi-nationals will also be appearing at easyFairs MAINTEC 2009 for the first time. These include Shell Oil Products – which will demonstrate how effective fluid management can help reduce operational costs and boost efficiency – and Festo, a world-leading supplier of pneumatic and electrical automation technology.

Their arrival, alongside smaller players, emphasises easyFairs’ ethos of time- and cost-effective shows that are accessible to companies ranging from niche suppliers to those turning over in excess of ?1 billion.

And as the economic slowdown sees a shift to low-cost alternatives, the easyFairs’ proposition is proving even more appealing to businesses.

easyFairs UK Managing Director, Peter Heath, said: “In good times, people might be more inclined to visit larger industrial shows and buy a complete new system. But now plant managers are more interested in buying replacement parts and upgrades to existing systems…easyFairs® MAINTEC is a unique trade show market for these kinds of technologies and products.

“Companies are naturally more focused than ever right now on getting a great return on their investment. easyFairs MAINTEC enables exhibitors to do business, develop new contacts and make sales at a fraction of the cost of a traditional trade show.

“Large trade fairs are demanding both in terms of time, resource and budget and there is a lot of casual footfall. That may be great for making a brand statement but if we’re heading, as many people predict, towards further economic uncertainty is that really enough? Exhibitors want a tangible return on investment in addition to raising their profile.

International appeal

easyFairs MAINTEC 2008 attracted almost 2,000 industry decision-makers – and next year’s show is expected to be a ‘must do’ diary date for even more manufacturing and processing leaders.

Visitors will discover the latest product innovations not just from UK-based companies but, thanks to easyFairs’ network of trade events across Europe, firms that have been convinced to attend after enjoying success at sister shows.

Arms Reliability Engineers, based in Victoria, Australia, and SPX Hydraulics Technologies – which has its HQ in Eygelshoven, Holland – will both be making their debuts in the 2009 easyFairs MAINTEC exhibitor guide.

SPX’s Sales & Marketing Manager, Sander Magnin, visited an easyFairs maintenance show in Brussels recently and, after being won over by the low-fuss, business-focused concept, will be showcasing its new range of hydraulic torque wrenches at easyFairs’ expos in Malmő, Antwerp, Zurich, Dortmund and Birmingham next year.

Similarly, Arms Reliability Engineers – based in the Victoria coastal town of Ocean Grove – were persuaded to exhibit at easyFairs MAINTEC 2009 after their appearance at easyFairs’ Belgian maintenance show generated a large number of new business leads.

Company Business Analyst Josh McIntosh, said: “We provide Asset Reliability Improvement Solutions across a wide range of industries. By predicting the performance of their assets, we are able to help clients align maintenance and engineering practices with strategic business goals, which in turn helps them design more efficient plants, modify existing plants, and maintain their assets over a chosen lifecycle.

“The MAINTEC show promises to put us in front of exactly the right kind of industry decision-makers.”

•    For stand bookings contact and more information contact Sunita Puee on 0208 622 4416 or e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Lord Bill Jordan to Chair New easyFairs® MAINTEC Summit

Former trade union chief Lord Bill Jordan CBE will chair a new Summit Conference at easyFairs® MAINTEC 2009 that brings together leading authorities in the field of plant maintenance and asset management.

Lord Jordan, who spent 20 years working with GKN in the West Midlands, is ex-President of the Amalgamated Engineering Union, member of the Foundation for Manufacturing and Industry, and General Secretary of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. He’s also served on the General Council of the TUC and all its major committees. 

He oversees the easyFairs® MAINTEC Summit Conference at the NEC on March 18. The Conference includes papers and case studies from leading lights in the fields of ‘lean’ plant management, lubrication technology, condition monitoring, automation, and energy efficiency.

Between them they’ll address the need to understand the key challenges and opportunities impacting on the asset management and maintenance functions going into the next decade. And they’ll give guidance on how to get board-level attention to change the behaviour of front-line employees in order to deal with these challenges and exploit the opportunities.  

Now Governor of the Ashridge Management College and President of RoSPA, Lord Jordan said: “The MAINTEC Summit promises delegates an opportunity to benchmark their asset management capability, set performance expectations, better manage the risks and regulatory pressures, and build a business case for change. And, crucially, it will highlight why asset management should be considered a value adding operation, not merely an overhead.”

Award-winning maintenance project Case Studies come from rubber belt and hose manufacturer Gates Power Transmission, in Dumfries, whose lean production initiative was pivotal in it being named ‘Best Engineering Plant’ at this year’s Best Factory Awards, and Schaeffler UK’s engine components plant in Llanelli. The latter won the ‘Best Manufacturing Award’ at the Wales Quality Awards 2008. 

Elsewhere, John Woodhouse, MD of The Woodhouse Partnership – an international authority on the management of industrial risk and asset performance – explains how plant managers can best judge where, when and how to apportion their maintenance budget.

The Institute of Asset Management will use various studies to show how UK factories must raise their game in order to remain competitive, with specific focus on how chronic and sporadic failures need addressing within a CIP.

And David Wright, Chief Executive of the West Midlands Manufacturing Advisory Service, delivers the MAINTEC 2009 Industry Address in which he considers the wider health of UK manufacturing and highlights performance enhancing opportunities.

easyFairs® UK Managing Director Peter Heath, added: “We’ve assembled a line-up of pre-eminent voices in the maintenance sector; the case study presentations will show how many of the UK’s leading manufacturing and process industries are responding to their challenges.”
•    To book a place at the MAINTEC Summit Conference, and to take advantage of ‘early bird’ delegate prices, call Lucy Daley on 0208 622 4468 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. For a full itinerary of papers, including seminar times, go to www.easyfairs.com/maintecuk.