EoW July 2009

The International Magazine for the Wire and Cable Industries

Reasons to be cheerful

April’s Interwire was followed so quickly by wire Russia that it may seem a dim and distant memory. It was, perhaps, a quieter event than regulars have been used to, but it wasn’t without its highlights. It’s very easy for an established industry to slip into the “we’ve always done it this way” mindset and, much of the time, that isn’t a problem. Generally, what does a per cent less on the bottom line really matter if a company’s employing one or two extra operators, or admits to over-capacity in the design lab? Right now, of course, it’s different, and the usual cutback measures are taking place alongside some real changes in working practices. So my lasting impression of Interwire 2009 is the interest in, and enthusiasm for, new products. It was evident from the busiest stands that anything that could offer a different way of doing something – a cleaner, cheaper, more efficient machine or technique – was getting noticed. It was gratifying to hear speakers at Interwire’s Executive Panel Presentation confirming the evidence on the stands: that companies who’ve been marketing new products for some time are suddenly finding that potential users aremuchmore open to new ideas. Buyers who previously dismissed change as a distraction are willing to really look at what’s on offer, and find out how they can benefit. Ergo, the developers are bucking the current trend and find themselves getting busier. Allow me a little nationalistic pride; I was particularlygratified tohear fromUKSMEs, working in very different capacities in the wire and cable sectors, that they were delighted with the attention they received at Interwire. These are not necessarily high-tech, high-investment solutions either. It’s yet to be seen how long it will take for interest to translate into sales, but engineering in the UK had been in crisis

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for years before the more general recession we’re experiencing now. At last, it seems there are reasons to be cheerful.

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