Frankfurt trade fair goes hybrid
This year Automechanika Frankfurt is taking place as a hybrid event for the very first time.
While the primary focus will be on the physical event and all the advantages it offers, Automechanika will also give exhibitors new opportunities to network digitally with people who cannot travel to Frankfurt due to the pandemic.
Digital features made available to all exhibitors free of charge will maximise their reach while opening up entirely new possibilities for product presentations and communication with customers.
Detlef Braun, a member of the Executive Board of Messe Frankfurt GmbH, is positive about the future: “Starting in June, the Frankfurt exhibition grounds will be hosting trade fairs once again. Work on the content and organisation of this September’s Automechanika, our leading trade fair brand, is also in full swing,” he says. “Everything is in place to ensure safe events for everyone involved.”
Michael Johannes, brand manager of Automechanika, says they’ve decided to hold Automechanika Frankfurt as a hybrid event “based on the good experience we’ve had over the past six months providing digital services for our customers not only in German-speaking countries, but also in Russia, Dubai, Shanghai and beyond.”
Thanks to a digital matchmaking and scheduling tool and facilities for live chats and one-to-one video calls, exhibitors will be able to communicate directly with their customers and generate new leads. Exhibitors’ product information and company profiles will remain online even after the event has finished
Exhibitors can also present their product innovations via live stream, explains Johannes.
“We have invested in our employees’ technical skills and established our own web studio for our customers here on the Frankfurt exhibition grounds. I am already looking forward to the videos and live streams that our exhibitors will be creating to supplement the supporting programme.”
For anyone not able to travel to Frankfurt due to Covid-19, Automechanika Frankfurt will also offer some of the supporting programme digitally. This means people can take part in a select online programme that includes ‘Collision talk’, the Automechanika Innovation Awards, the Automechanika Academy (an event focusing on themes that are important to the future) and a special programme for workshops.
allows the downward battery removal (battery is pretty much the area of the floor pan), suitable safety equipment, barriers and signage (to go around a car being serviced) and suitable ventilation and light. Additionally, there needs to be space adjacent to the bay where a removed battery can be placed. The bay should be as close to the workshop entrance as possible in case the vehicle needs to be removed urgently.
This brings us to a key part of the Audi requirements, a safe quarantine area. This is an area that an EV can be taken to if it arrives with a damaged or potentially damaged battery or damage is found during servicing as there is a small but real risk of spontaneous combustion from the battery. This area must be outside where a minimum of six car parks can be emptied easily to provide the quarantine space with the EV in the centre of the space. It should be outside the visible range of customers, not in the immediate vicinity of a building and have special signage, in some cases this requires a bunker to be constructed.
Apart from generic safety equipment such as insulating gloves, aprons, shepherds crooks and rubber floor mats each EV model has its own specialised factory tooling package which covers items such as diagnostic adapters through brackets for safe motor removal and can cost up to $20,000 per model. They also need a two-level engine table for battery removal.
The dealers are looking to future proof their service business as with EV’s become more popular the amount of service work will decrease as they require less servicing. They are already diversifying into supplying tyres, tyre repairs and alignment work rather than outsourcing this, windscreen repairs and ADAS calibration and minor panel repairs to diversify their business.
In terms of chargers each dealership must have at least a 50kW DC charger (these are the size of the common fast public chargers) in many cases they will have one external unit and one in the workshop. Some of the larger dealers (Auckland and Christchurch) have also installed 175kW chargers. Giltrap Audi are in the process of putting their external 50kW and 175kW chargers on the ChargeNet system so they are publicly available. In addition, the EV bays and delivery bay need at least 7.2kW AC chargers (Each new Audi comes with a 7.2kW charger). This is a considerable investment as the dealership needs scoping for location of the charger and potential wiring and power supply upgrades. Audi is using Singer Electrical and ABB chargers for these installations.
Preparing for EV servicing is a journey, one which most repairers will need to embark on as EV’s and PHEV’s become more popular.