CMEP 2014 Exceeding Expectations: Business, Product Launches, Knowledge Sharing…

The only Expo of its kind in the Middle East, the 2nd edition of CMEP Expo 2014 concluded with overwhelming response from both the exhibitors and visitors. On a positive note, the bookings for the next show, CMEP 2015 has already crossed 50%. More than 5000 visitors from across 31 countries visited the Show, creating new records.

Inaugurating the Expo at the Dubai World Trade Centre, Director-General Dubai Municipality, Eng. Hussain Nasser Lootah said that even though Dubai is a clean city, there is need for newer technologies to maintain the ambience.

“One of our goals, and also our challenge is to keep Dubai clean and raise the existing cleaning standards,” he said, adding that such exhibitions held in Dubai enable the authorities to see a lot of new equipment and best practices. The municipality is constantly looking at newer technologies and solutions to provide the best services to the city. Technologies that enable delivering cleaning standards in limited time with quality results are essential.

“There are many new equipment introduced at the Show that can be utilized by the Dubai Municipality and we are evaluating some of them. There are also solutions here, especially for CBD (the Central Business District) which needs smaller equipment as compared to other areas. These equipment provide support to continue keeping Dubai clean,” said the director general.

“Dubai is strategizing to be one of the world’s most sustainable cities by 2020. The integrated strategic master plan for a sustainable waste management system in Dubai is the department’s most ambitious project, which is now fully approved and set for implementation. The plan provides a structure for waste management in Dubai until 2030 and will be based on certain key performance indicators (KPIs), which enhance the concept of waste as a resource as they divert waste from landfills to recycling and energy recovery,” divulged Abdulmajeed Saifaie, Director of Waste Management Department, Dubai Municipality.

Also present at the inauguration were Director-Waste Management Abdulmajeed Saifaie; Chairman VIS Conference & Exhibitions Jayaram Nair; Managing Director VIS J.P. Nair and Managing Director Afidamp Servizi srl, Italy, Toni D’Andrea.

“The Show has been really good and this is a place where we get to actually meet with cleaning professionals working in the same field. There are other exhibitions but it is only here we get to meet our competitors. This exhibition is not just an exhibition as we not only get to interact with others in the business, but it is also a learning experience besides meeting potential customers,” said Sanjay Haridasan, Biotech Solutions, UAE. They have recently taken up the distributorship of Kimberley Clark.

Guojian Chen, General Manager of Gaomei, China, a first time exhibitor at CMEP Expo, found that the Show was a good channel to meet with prospective franchisee partners. He said they have met some of them and are looking at meeting more.

“We have 3000 products in our range, and CMEP provides the ideal platform to showcase these amazing innovations to the entire Middle East region. A few of our new solutions that bagged awards at EISA, are present here as well, that is something we are particularly excited about. Our customers expect us to deliver qualitative products. In the region, our products have to stand the test of the harsh climatic conditions, and other factors
that include competition from the Chinese manufacturers. Not all of our products are cheap, but quality is uncompromised,” commented Sreekumar S. Panicker, sales manager – Floor Care, Karcher.

“People in the market are looking beyond respectable and committed suppliers for their cleaning needs, customers want a place where they can get expert advice on best practices without having to shell out too much money. Hence, we have spent many years in educating our clients on the best machines as per their requirements, while not making their judgment based purely on price. While, initial costs of our offerings might be on the higher side, it irons out into a value-for-money proposition,” said Carsten Mahaini, CEO, Viking Gulf.

“We look at this event as an opportunity to promote our brand in the region. We have been in existence since 1987 and today are market leaders ensuring premium products and services to our clients. Our association with the CMEP Show and Clean Middle East goes way back. A show like the CMEP gives a good opportunity to meet people and also showcase our latest products. This time we launched many new products through this show,” said Henrik Mahaini, COO, Viking Gulf.

“We are looking at a future where we will have completely automated floor hygiene systems, incorporating robotics, complete with gesture and speech control. It is not the ‘grandeur of technology’ we are focusing on, but it goes a long way in maintaining hygiene levels to the maximum. These are the kind of products that are gaining massive traction in the region, with several hotels and real estate projects taking up our solutions,” commented John Colley, Chairman, Intercare.

Eco-Tech had on display products, which they recently added to their collection – facial wipes with fragrance and sanitizers with refill packs for gyms.

India based Roots Multiclean Ltd, first time participant in CMEP Expo already has a presence in the Middle East through various partnership and dealerships. “We have distributors in Oman and Qatar already. Our main agenda was to get a good distributor for Dubai and have successfully identified a partner,” said Pravin Kumar, Export Manager.

Speaking about Omni-flex a new launch from Kaivac, George Oommen, Managing Director of Excel, said, “There is absolutely no touch system and ideal for hospitals. Equipped with chemical injector, blower, pressure washer and a vacuum and also a scrubber, the machine does away the need for multiple machines. With this machine, a public washroom can be cleaned by just one person in 20 minutes. It is easy to operate and maintain this machine. We will launching this machine at the Clean India Show 2014 in Ahmedabad.”

Based in Italy, Injecta which specializes in dosing systems provides solutions directly to customers. “We started the business in UAE a month back and are supplying chemicals to all the
big companies, and I can say for sure that the business has progressed. We are looking at other countries like India. We have two kinds of approach — a green energy and the second a alter treatment,” said Federico Bertoni, Business Development Manager.

“It is extremely important for us to recognize the efforts of the front and back office staff. They are the backbone of the industry, and need to be motivated; hence, these awards will be a nice way of giving back. The response is phenomenal as we have received … nominations, as we are expecting many more to come in,” commented Tatjana Ahmed, Housekeeping Manager, Grand Hyatt, who is also the chairperson of the Middle East Facilities Management Association.

Sabine Brosius, Export Manager, Vileda Professional: “The response from the CMEP Show this year has been very good. We got to make some very good contacts and also got to introduce some of our new products to the end-user as well.”

Venkatesh Manjeri, Divisional Manager-Floorcare Division, Intercare: “Unlike other trade shows what makes the CMEP Show different is the quality crowd that visits the Expo. This was a good way to see all the products in the Cleaning industry under one roof and get a chance to interact with our fellow colleagues as well.”

Anders Morup, Regional Manager, Middle East, Nilfisk Advance: “The second and third day of the CMEP show have been very good and interactive for us and we were happy with that. We also introduced a new product called the stand on sweeper which has got a good response.”

Raj Rajan, RD&E Vice President of Sustainability, Ecolab, USA: There was a very good response for both the CMEP Expo and the ICHC Conference as we got to target the right kind of people and also those who we, as a company, wanted to meet. It is important that such kinds of shows are organised as it provides a platform to discuss how to make sustainability sustainable.”