"Connecting Car Competence” will become the motto of the Allerpark in Wolfsburg from 14th to 16th October 2014, when a record-breaking total of more than 800 exhibitors from 29 different countries will present their products and innovations and establish new business contacts at the International Suppliers Fair (IZB). More than 80 companies from the German Land of Lower Saxony will showcase their products and services in the exhibition area covering a total of 36,000 square metres. The trade fair’s extensive programme of accompanying events also encourages a professional exchange of ideas and experiences among participants. This programme will start on 13th October with the International Automotive Congress - ASEAN, which will discuss the opportunities and challenges of this year's IZB partner region, the Association of Southeast-Asian Nations (ASEAN). ASEAN is being represented in Wolfsburg by over 50 exhibitors at this year’s trade fair. The International Suppliers Fair 2014 will be kicked off by a celebratory Opening Event in the Autostadt in Wolfsburg, which will be attended by more than 1500 guests, on the evening of 13th October.
The countdown is now on and when exhibitors from all over the world begin to set up their stands in the seven IZB exhibition halls covering areas of up to 6500 square metres on 7th October, the final stage of preparations for the trade fair will begin.
Exhibitors have shown a huge amount of interest in the event since the start of the registration period in June 2013: “We were fully booked within three months. We could even fill an additional hall with the companies on the waiting list. This is a clear sign that the trade fair is an important meeting place for the international automotive supplier industry”, declares Stephan Böddeker, the IZB Project Manager at the company Wolfsburg AG, who is delighted with the response to the event. Wolfsburg AG has been organising the IZB since 2001.
The IZB as a Meeting Place for Regional Supplier Companies
The exhibitors at this year’s IZB include more than 80 companies from the German Land of Lower Saxony. Around 40 of these companies are from the Braunschweig-Wolfsburg region. Julius von Ingelheim, the Spokesman of the Board of Wolfsburg AG, expects the trade fair to provide important impetus for the entire business region: “Our region is the powerhouse of the German automotive industry. Over the last 15 years, 150 supplier companies have relocated to the city of Wolfsburg alone. The IZB offers them an outstanding platform right on their doorstep that enables supplier companies to present themselves and establish new business contacts.” These regional companies receive important impetus from events such as the 9th Mobility Talk of the Hanover-Braunschweig-Göttingen-Wolfsburg Metropolitan Region on 14th October, which will inform them about intelligent mobility concepts in the field of traffic and transportation. The speakers at this event will include Olaf Lies, the Minister of Economics, Labour and Transport of the German Land of Lower Saxony. On 15th October, the Automotive Cluster, the Metropolitan Region’s supplier network, will offer its members the opportunity to present themselves at the trade fair and to establish contact with each other and with exhibitors.
Specialist Events Discuss Industry Trends
Alongside the IZB itself and networking events, a number of congresses, specialist conferences and workshops will also provide an overview of trend topics in the automotive industry. The first of these events will be the International Automotive Congress – ASEAN on 13th October. This congress will provide participants with a practice-oriented insight into the booming Southeast Asian market, which is also the partner region of the IZB 2014. Its speakers from the fields of business and technology and from different organisations and associations will be joined by representatives from Volkswagen and the Volkswagen Group Malaysia, the Indonesian Minister of Industry and the Malaysian companies DRB-Hicom and the WSA Group.
The programme of events accompanying the IZB will begin on 14th October with the China Symposium at the Mobility Forum venue in the exhibition grounds. This event will explore the increasingly complicated logistic complexities in the global automotive industry with a particular focus on China. The two-day-long VDI/VW Joint Congress on “Driver Assistance Systems and Integrated Safety” will also start at the Forum AutoVision of Wolfsburg AG on 14th October and will give participants the chance to discuss current issues concerning active and passive safety in vehicles, especially against the background of an increasingly automated world.
On 15th October 2014, Wolfsburg AG and the Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology (IWU) from the German city of Chemnitz will join forces to welcome guests to the “Resource-Efficient Automotive Production” Symposium, which will present possibilities for and approaches to energy-efficient and material-efficient production. The topic of the key technology of lightweight construction will form the focus of a specialist conference taking place on 16th October, the last day of the IZB. The Lightweight Construction Forum will be held under the patronage of Dr Jürgen Leohold, the Head of Volkswagen Group Research and the AutoUni, and will focus on topics such as new manufacturing technologies for hybrid lightweight construction and innovations for the automotive industry.
The Final Day of the Trade Fair Will Focus on the IZB Job Fair
On 16th October, the last day of the trade fair, the IZB Job Fair will give students and university graduates the opportunity to establish contact with representatives from the human resources departments of exhibitors at the IZB. Job Fair participants will also be able to make the most of tips for their personal development and a free application portfolio check. A new feature of the Job Fair this year is the Job Wall in Hall 1, which will provide an overview of job vacancies at companies exhibiting at the IZB and other companies. Participants can use the online version of the Job Wall to find out more about these job opportunities in the run-up to the event. For more information, please visit www.izb-online.com/en/events/job-fair.