• 10,000 plus visitors
• International visitors from 22 countries
• Over 250 exhibitors
• 15 International exhibitors
• 71 new exhibitors
• 5 High-level Conferences
• Special Session with Indian Railways
• Special Session with Hospitality Housekeepers
Much before the gates opened to the Clean India Technology Week 2020, visitors had queued up at the Registration counters. Introducing self-help badge counter and new software enabled badge generating system, CTW2020 began with a constant flow of buyers that continued all through the three days of the exhibition.
More than 10,000 buyers from 22 countries visited the expos with specific requirements and were able to successfully conclude deals. Many exhibitors had three common things to say, “Can’t believe it… it was a superb show”; “I am definitely participating next year”; “Can this show be for four days?”
The report here below gives a complete brief on the trends in the industry, the direction the market is moving towards, the buying preferences and digitization.
“While airports and multiplexes are both vast facilities, people only transit through airports but spend a few hours at multiplexes. Hence, their cleaning needs are different. Unlike other multiplexes, some of them do not use tip-up chairs for patrons; hence, it needs flexible vacuum cleaners with long cords which can be used by employees to quickly clean under seats from the auditorium steps itself, after each show.” The exhibitor, who was informed about this specific requirement at a multiplex, about three years back, was proud to showcase a customised product at CTW 2020. The same visitor, who has been looking for this product for years, finally found at the Show.
This story is representative of thousands of buyer-manufacturer interactions that unfold over the three days of the Clean India Technology Week 2020, from February 13-15 at the Bombay Exhibition Center, Mumbai. Every anecdote was about a manufacturer inventing, refining or designing products to answer buyers’ fervent prayers, and facility and procurement managers being overjoyed by coming across machines and chemicals that were tailored to their exact specifications.
CTW 2020 was home to four buzzing Expos: Clean India Show, Laundrex India, Waste Technology Expo and Car Care Expo. But if you think each expo was an independent entity that had nothing to do with the others and that each visitor explored only one expo, think again.
Alok Tiwari, Principal Executive Director – Environment and Housekeeping Management, Indian Railways came looking for a list of solutions: Ride-on cleaners for railway platforms, with four-year contracts in the offing; BOOT laundry providers who would process the 900,000 bed sheets the railways need washed every day, on a 10-15-year contract (as well as for low-cost solutions to trace linen), and bio-methanation plant experts who could set up projects that use waste to power railway kitchens. If, like him, even a casual visitor had walked around the Expo area, he would have found all of the above, and more, under one roof.
Clean India Show
The sheer range of products in demand, and exhibited, was astounding. Astol Cleantech’s Siddhartha Shankar was busy showcasing everything from small domestic to 400 litre industrial vacuum cleaners, from small manual sweepers to truck-mounted ones. Despite the predominance of mammoth machines, Venu Madhavan, GMIndustry Services, Karcher India reminded us that people would never stop looking for, and buying smaller devices. Paolo Scapinello, Export Manager, Filmop (Schevaran) said that one common factor in all enquiries was for products which reduced time and energy required for cleaning. “We wanted quality visitors like this who know what they want and can understand our product, and we are getting those,” he affirmed.
Reckitt Benckiser’s Saurabh Chopra was looking to increasing the company’s presence among distributors and channel partners, while Joseph George, Regional Manager-Unger, looked forward to connecting with FM companies. At the end of three days, when we asked George if his wishes had been fulfilled, he reeled off a list of heads of top FM firms, all of whom had visited his booth.
One of them was Ganga Ganesh, AGM-Training & Development, UDS. When asked what he had come looking for, he said: “Every big client is asking for mechanised and robotic cleaning, as they want to reduce dependence on manpower. When we look for solutions online, we find very little, never suited to our requirements. But at this show, in just a few minutes, I found a granite-polishing machine; I have asked the manufacturer to perform a demo at client sites, following which we plan to procure some units.”
Satish Shukla of ISKCON complimented the impeccable organisation of the show, and confided that the samples of solutions he had gathered at the show would be shared with his superiors before formal discussions for procurement would be initiated. Asha Pathania’s deputy Amit Sarup was to be found flitting from stall to stall, looking for chemicals that can remove the odour of sweat from 1,25,000 PVR seats, five times a day. Dr Rajan Naik from Pune said he was thrilled to find “Biodegradable chemicals, from new entrepreneurs, available at low prices, which can be used by laymen too.”
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SPECIAL SESSION WITH INDIAN RAILWAYS
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Laundrex India Expo
To state that every machine exhibited here was at least semi-automated, if not fully automated, would not be an exaggeration. Perhaps no other sector has witnessed this much change in its engineering.
Sanjeev Dixit, Head-Sales, Aquarius Appliances was besieged by representatives of the hospitality industry who wanted to opt for fully automated washers to wash different kinds of clothes and linen. Akash Dharamsey of ADD-Girbau was engaged by entrepreneurs looking to set up laundromats or laundry cafes, as well as larger institutions looking to establish in-house laundries. B Krishnamoorthy, Business Head- Industrial Products, IFB said he was absolutely thrilled with the steady flow of customers, while Zehen Arora of Stefab predicted that in the future, conventional dry cleaning would be replaced by high-end, green dry cleaning, and wet cleaning would make a comeback.
There were crossovers between expos as well. Amrutraj Kulkarni, VP-Buzil Rossari was technically stationed in the Clean India Show, but had a laundry solution that would help systems operate at just 60 degree centigrade, apart from a dye transfer inhibitor which would prevent colour running from one garment from staining other garments.
Waste Technology India Expo
Most enquiries were from dealers or distributors, working with the government and with CSR wings of corporates, said Netel India’s Sonali Sawant. Kam-Avida’s GMSales Sanjeev Hallur mentioned that many people are not aware of the range of solutions they can use; visitors impressed by his stall included municipal authorities from Guntur, Solapur, and Vasai-Virar, the latter of whom scheduled a time for an on-site demo during the Expo itself.
The aforementioned official from Solapur was Vikram Patil, Assistant Municipal Commissioner.
He said: “I joined this posting just yesterday, and am glad I came here today, because I have already found the smart solutions I was looking for. We intend to take this forward and sign MoUs with some of the exhibitors here. We are particularly glad to have found low-cost Personal Protective Equipment for out safai karamcharis.”
Another municipal visitor was Sanjit Rodrigues, Commissioner of the Corporation of the City of Panjim, Goa. Praising the show, he said: “One thing that this forum provides is networking. We get to know what is new, and what is in the pipeline in terms of innovation and improvements. And by talking face-to-face with exhibitors, we immediately come to know if a solution will work for our specific problem.”
Agreeing with him, Ashish Pandya of Luxe Engineering and Energy Solutions, Baroda said: “Everything we wanted to know, we have learnt right here. We came to learn basic things, but we got thorough detail. After this, there is nothing left to ask. The Show is a one-stop knowledge hub.”
Such was the irresistible draw of the show that Nitesh Singh- Sr Sales Executive, Supreme Industries let us in on a funny thing he had noticed; people who had come to the Bombay Exhibition Center for other, unrelated expos decided to spend a few minutes at the CTW 2020, and ended up staying back for hours!
Visitors and exhibitors agreed on one thing; there has not been a better planned, more fruitful show in many years. We have no doubt that next year, after attending the Clean Technology Week 2021 from February 17 to 19 at the same venue, they will have the same thing to say!
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SPECIAL SESSION WITH I-PHA
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