Trade shows can be a boon to your business by allowing you
to introduce yourself and your products to new clients. It is also a great
venue to help you gauge the interest in your product and or service and help
you network with the important people in your industry. This is the important
part of the show, but for those with a lot of experience in trade shows, the
real work begins well before the show begins and continues well after the last
attendee has left the building.
My blog this month focuses on the work of the trade show,
the behind the scenes logistics that takes place before and after the event to
ensure the trade show is successful, which for most means has a positive return
on investment, let us start this with:
Attending a trade show as an exhibitor can be expensive.
There are many costs involved with exhibiting at a trade
show consisting of costs like how big your booth is, how much seating,
furniture and tables you want to provide for your visitors, use of electricity,
audio video equipment and material handling. I want to mainly discuss the costs
associated with material handling, but before I do let’s talk first in general
about how material handling is performed and by who.
There is a common misconception by first time exhibitors
that the convention center is responsible for everything that happens at a show
and at that center. The reality is that most convention centers rely on outside
Expo Management companies to provide materials and labor for their particular
show. In fact most cities with large convention center space has dozens of
these Management companies.
The show hires an expo management company/decorator who is
responsible for making the plan-a-gram for the exhibitors, providing the
necessary materials for that show and providing the labor to manage the floor.
The service these expo companies provide includes, receipt and warehousing
prior to the show, shuttle of the items from the advanced warehouse to the
convention center and positioning of materials for each booth on the trade show
floor.
The Expo management company is important to the entire
process. Many conventions centers have the space to book multiple shows, each
needing specialized management, equipment and services. Some Expo Management
companies specialize in certain types of trade shows, which makes them a
strategic partner for the convention center.
For example the display booth needs for a trade show in the
computer software segment is much different than a booth for the fabric
industry.
The Show organizers would want to hire the trade show
management company that caters to their specific needs. The trade show
management that has an inventory of hundreds of television monitors, cables and
projection equipment would be the ideal company if your trade show is about
computer software. Each vendor can rent the equipment to show customers how
their software works rather than all of them shipping in televisions.
Another Expo Management company may not have the necessary
audio visual equipment this show needs, but may have hundreds of tables and
chairs and hangers and hanging bars for the fabric show. This type of expo is
more for customers to feel new fabrics or see how they drape. They may not need
fancy audio video equipment when the sale is based on how the fabric looks and
feels. So having the right equipment for the show is important.
Can you imagine how much space a convention center would
need to have if they had to buy, store and provide everything a particular show
might need? They would have to build a whole other convention center just to
house it all. Thus the need for Expo Management Companies. Also with a
convention center booking show after show, some that start immediately after
another show ends, the need for timely logistical management is crucial.
These Expo companies provide the convention center with show
management before and after the show. By taking items into an advanced
warehouse and staging the items for quick and efficient movement onto the trade
show floor as the other expo company is completing moving the other show out,
saves time, is more efficient and allows the convention center to make more
money by booking more events.
With this explanation out of the way for those just learning
trade show logistics let’s talk about the material handling duties that these
Expo management companies perform for you.
Earlier I mentioned an Advance Warehouse.
This is a warehouse that the expo management company owns or
uses to stage your materials prior to the show. They organize your shipment
based on the flow of materials onto the convention center floor.
The charge for this service is outlined in the Material
Handling and Freight Service packet provided by the show coordinator and in most
cases is calculated based on CWT (hundred weight). Be careful to know what the
minimum charge is as well as what constitutes a single shipment.
The advance warehouse charge is almost always more expensive
than the direct to the convention center. For example a show we just shipped to
charge $72.95 per 100 lbs. to receive at the advanced warehouse whereas the
shipment directly to the show was $63.75 per 100 lbs.
So the question becomes why would anyone ship to the advance
warehouse? There are some advantages to shipping to the advance warehouse. The
first is your material is staged and will be moved to the expo floor first for
you to setup, before the direct to show materials. Second, it is cheaper to
truck to an advance warehouse than it is directly is to ship direct to the
convention center.
The cost differential say on a 1000 lb. crate in the above
cost example is a $92 savings direct to the convention center instead of to the
advance warehouse
$729.50 - $637.50.
However, when we ship directly to a convention center,
trucking companies charge more. Why? Because when shipping to an advance
warehouse, the warehouse will receive freight over the course of weeks, easy
dock load and unload in normal business operations. At the convention center
trucks line up in the marshaling yard waiting their turn to unload. Everyone
is trying to get their freight into the convention center at one time and in a
small amount of time, sometimes hundreds of exhibitors in one day.
That means truck after truck waiting to be unloaded, that’s
manpower and equipment the trucking company is without just sitting there and
someone needs to pay for that.
So direct to the convention center freight is always more
expensive than shipping to an advance warehouse. In the example above we had
the option of shipping direct to the show, to save money on material handling
costs (Save $92), or directly to the trade show. The rate difference on a 1000
lbs. was $213.40 to the advance warehouse or $405.55 to the Convention center
as trade show freight.
The $92 of savings just disappeared. It would cost us
$192.15 more to ship direct to the Convention Center. It was a savings of $100.15
to ship to the advance warehouse.
The most important thing to have when planning your trade
show is the management packet that outlines the details of your expenses for
the show. From booth equipment, utility costs and services like material handling,
the packet outlines in pretty good detail what you are going to be charged.
Once you know this it is easy to figure out what way to go when shipping your
exhibit materials to your trade show.
Also the packet should let you know if the hundred weight
charge is for both drayage to the show and back to the advance warehouse
because the same economics come into play for the trucking company, they have
to charge more to pick up at the convention center dock because they have to wait
in line, while everyone’s materials are being loaded.
So the logistics of the move out are similar to the move in,
however you must be completely aware of your move out dates and times well
before you sign up for the show.
If you are moving out of the convention center dock when the
show is over, and you show ends on a Sunday, there is a very large up-charge by
carriers to pick up on a weekend and after hours.
We manage the trade show freight for a number of clients and
we try to inform them of all the potential costs both in trade show material
handling and in the shipment to and from a trade show, and even after the explanation
most people are shocked at the costs involved. Be very clear of what certain materials
might cost you to move to and from a show.
Need more logistics info to make your trade show a success? Let
our professional trade show management team help you with your next exhibition.
Contact Gateway Optimum Transportation at 480-363-0304 or visit
www.gatewayot.com or www.gatewaycrateandfreight.com
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