The Spanish Lift Community held their 2009 exhibition in the historic city of Barcelona and under the shadow of the expo obelisks which rise like two lift shafts from the central plaza between the exhibition halls of Fira Barcelona. The Ele-Espa˜na exhibition was inspired by the late Jordi Corominas who unfortunately died this year from cancer and I am sure will greatly be missed by the Spanish elevator community as a whole. Jordi Corominas along with Joseph Steir have ensured that Spain has a showcase event and it will be for the new generation of Lift professionals to take what has been started and ensure it develops and grows to answer the future needs of the Spanish elevator industry.
The 2009 event was the fourth in the series and coincided with a recession in the world economy which has affected Spain tremendously. With the world situation reflecting so badly on the construction market it was no surprise to hear that the number and size of stands had been reduced. However, 40+ companies did exhibit and 2240 visitors registered which was above the expectation of the organizers and proved there was a strong local need for the event. During day two 1450 visitors attended and this certainly was a validation of the event and a very pleasing sight for the organizers and exhibitors alike. Talking to a number of the visitors it was clear that they did find the exhibition useful and that it had saved them a tremendous amount of time and effort in collecting product information and relevant contact details.
The industry product on show covered a good cross section of accessibility systems, lift components, inspection services, installation tools and general software and monitoring equipment. Also there were Notified Bodies and trade associations on hand to give advice and information. Practical demonstrations at shows are always interesting and here at Ele-Espa˜na a number working exhibits were attracting attention. There was for example the ‘eletubo’ which is an all in one pneumatic lift system that many visitors had not seen before. This system includes a self-supporting glazed structural tube which has integral guide rails. The lift car travels at a speed of 0.015 m/sec. with a permissible load of 180 kg. and is certified under the directive 98/37/EC. This product is obviously aimed at the home lift market and around the hall were a number of other home lift solutions, access platforms and stair lifts. All of these products are becoming an important part of the traditional lift sector and this sector as it becomes more sophisticated also has to be included and fully integrated into the main stream of the lift industry. To interest an installation engineer there was a demonstration of a temporary work platform and on another stand rope tension gauges were being showcased.
As would be expected there were a number of lift components displayed and these included guide shoes, roller guides, sheaves, pulleys and complete traction machines from Germany, Italy and Spain. These machines were mainly gearless but a selection of geared units could also be seen. There was a good selection of safety products including door safety edges, emergency telephone systems, rope guards and safety gears. The amount of control equipment was limited but there was plenty of expertise attending the event to talk about any size or specification of elevator project.
During the event FEPYMA held their AGM which included a presentation by EFESME. The meeting was well attended and members were able to talk to the representatives of EFESME and see just what benefits access to influential experts and lobbyists can achieve. This again shows the opportunity to combine events so as to make the best possible use of a lift professional’s valuable time especially at gatherings of this size.
Creative Spark 2009
