The global construction industry recently gathered for this year’s Conexpo-Con/Agg & IFPE, unveiling new technologies and products, sharing knowledge, networking with industry peers and buying equipment. The show was held from 10 to 14 March 2020 at the Las Vegas Convention Centre and Festival Grounds, Nevada, in the US. Registrations for the show reportedly totalled over 130,000, with cancellations from international visitors - mainly due to the Covid-19 outbreak - totalled less than 1% at the conclusion of the show.

“This has been one of the best editions of Conexpo-Con/Agg – ever,” said Mary Erholtz, vice president of marketing at Superior Industries and Conexpo-Con/Agg 2020 show chairperson. “We refer to Conexpo-Con/Agg as the ‘heavy metal’ show, but it’s more than that. It’s also small equipment, education and technology. And that was reflected in every way this week.

“Giant machines, incredible exhibits, fantastic education and huge expectations. Organisers of Conexpo-Con/Agg have a legacy of building and innovating on previous shows, and the 2020 gathering extends that record of success.”

Exhibitors across the show, from the Festival Grounds to North Hall to Bronze Lot to South Hall, have expressed enthusiasm for the tremendous engagement they received from contractors and producers looking to purchase equipment.

According to IFPE show chairperson David Price, global marketing manager of HydraForce Inc, “The crowd was much better than expected under the circumstances and most importantly, the right buyers were on the show floor. We were very pleased with the strong showing from the 300-plus exhibitors at IFPE 2020, and we are looking forward to the 2023 show.”

Mike Ballweber, president of Doosan Bobcat echoed those sentiments. “Tuesday for us was record breaking in terms of leads and attendance at our booth, which is how we measure how successful the show is for us. We had more people to our booth on the first day than all of the 2017 show. This is a one-every-three-years show, and our dealers and customers were really excited to be here,” he said.

With growing concerns about Covid-19, show management worked closely with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and the Southern Nevada Health District to make sure exhibitors, vendors and visitors were provided with heightened cleaning services and hand sanitisers to help reduce the spread of germs and enable show participation to stay healthy onsite at the show.

“We have been pleased with the success of the overall show and attendance in our booth,” said Ingo Schiller, president and CEO of Tadano America Corporation. “The management team at Conexpo-Con/Agg has been monitoring the situation and they made a very difficult decision to close the show a day early. We appreciate their leadership and we look forward to Conexpo-Con/Agg 2023.”

Key metrics reflect overall quality of the visitors: US buyer attendance increased 8% from the 2017 show, and total buyer attendance improved by almost 5%; overall contractor and producer attendance grew by 14%; six-in-seven visitors serve in a decision-making role; total registered attendance reached over 130,000 for the week; and visitors purchased a record-breaking 75,622 tickets for education sessions at the show, a 46% increase from the 2017 show.

At the same time, the technological change revolutionising these industries was pervasive across the shows’ record 2.7 million-plus net sq ft (over 250,000 sq m) of exhibits featuring 2,300-plus exhibitors from the leading US and global manufacturers, from multinational giants to small firms with specialised products.

Other highlights included partnership with women in construction groups to highlight the growing role women play in the industry, such as unveiling the world’s largest 3-D printed statute of a human to honour the growing role women play in the construction industry; Workforce solutions area in the Festival Lot that showcased industry recruitment best practices; the Tech Experience returned for a second year and focused on modern mobility, sustainability and smart cities; and the first-ever Fluid Power Hour for the co-located IFPE show, which featured an opportunity for engineers to network with their peers on the show floor.

Held every three years, the next Conexpo-Con/Agg will return from 14 to 18 March 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada.