Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/924542
88 PCB007 MAGAZINE I JANUARY 2018 What made it special for us was the wonderful hospitality of the customer. It is good to know the machine is working well for them and has made a positive difference to their business. We managed a single night out in Munich (Wednesday) amongst the healthy throng at the Hofbrauhaus. It is always an entertaining evening. We bumped into a few customers and generally managed a little relaxation and some gentle business and teambuilding. For a lot of our customers, and competitors, productronica is the networking event of the year. The eve- nings are often just as important as the days and many of the real deals are struck after show hours. By the time we have gotten to Friday, every- one is starting to run out of energy. But there is not much chance for a rest; the last few hours of the show were actually very busy for us. Quite a few new potential customers revisit- ed our stand and double-checked technical in- formation, which is always a good sign. Ac- cording to the other exhibitors I spoke to, the show was busier this year with a lot of inter- esting enquiries. Perhaps things are looking a little more positive for European manufactur- ing than the news in the daily papers would sometimes have us believe. 5 pm Friday The show closes to custom- ers but another long evening is just starting for us. Everything must be packed up, ready to load onto the transport home, which is booked for Saturday morning. The pressure is on, as what went together in two days must come back apart in less than one. Ben and I had plenty of help from the rest of the team on our stand but as the tasks become more tech- nical the numbers dropped back until we were on our own again for the last few hours until the early hours of Saturday morning. A few hours in bed and back to the show grounds to super- vise the loading of the machines. We were in the van and heading out of Munich by midday. It is a long journey home but there is a good feeling of a job well done and the potential for a lot of future business. We arrived home in the south of the UK at 2:30 am Sunday morning. I would describe the sleep that night as deep. We managed a day off before having to unload and check the equip- ment back into our office. Done for another two years! That is, apart from dealing with the inquiries from the show. It can take quite a while to develop specifica- tions and quotations for a diverse range of ap- plications. One of the next appointments on my calendar is a visit to China for the HKPCA show. In com- parison to Munich, at this show I can relax and enjo y. The pressure is on someone else's shoul- ders. Definitely "All the fun of the fair." PCB007 Marc Ladle is director at Viking Test Ltd. To read past columns or to contact Ladle, click here.