Düsseldorf, Germany — Regardless of nationality or occupation, there is one thing people who walked away from the Chen Hsong Group booth at K 2016 had in common.
Their hands were full.
The Hong Kong-based company showed off a variety of its injection molding machinery at its booth during K 2016 in Düsseldorf, including a Supermaster 700-ton press that's churned out a not-so-typical trade show giveaway — if only for its size.
A steady stream of people have been standing in line near the machine waiting patiently, at least at one particular time late one afternoon during the eight-day event, for knee-high, rather large planters. The demand has been pretty much constant.
These are more than just your typical trade show tchotchkes. And they are not going with anybody flying home, thanks to their size.
“Every time there is a big plastic fair, we also have to figure out a way to attract visitors. Of course, we will try to produce some product that will attract people to approach,” said Kevin Huang, a regional sales manager with the company. “Not every fair we will produce the same product; maybe we will select some funny, good stuff to attract more visitors.”
This time, they went for big.
The firm realizes the vast majority of people picking up one of these 1.7-kilogram polypropylene planters will not be in the market for an injection molding machine.
Trade show attendees wait in line for the Supermaster to cycle through and produce another planter. That cycle time certainly can be adjusted, and it was running at 91 seconds at one particular afternoon. But company salesmen will grab a planter or two for truly prospective buyers so they do not have to wait in line.
“Those are the people in the long queue because they are not a buyer. They have to spend time and wait there,” Huang said. “We can realize and understand that those people come and get the products. But they are not our buyers. Our buyers will not spend such a long time. They will ask us if they can get one or two.”
Michael Kunze stood at the Chen Hsong booth with not one, but two planters in hand. Five-gallon buckets and other show floor freebies easily fit inside.
He'll use one of the planters, once he lugged it back home in Düsseldorf, in his garden for flowers. They are so big that he plans to use the other to plant an apple tree.
Luckily, for Kunze, he was able to bring his car to the show to make planter transportation much easier. Still, he had to get them to the parking lot.
Not long after Kunze snagged his planters, Idris Korkmaz found himself at the front of the line waiting for two planters to be made — one for him and one for his wife ,who also patiently waited.
The electrician for Plast-Control GmbH in Remscheid, Germany, knew he had a bit of a haul ahead of himself with the rather larger products. First a 20-minute train ride followed by a 40-minute bus ride, all while having to manage the goods.
Picking up the planters was his wife's idea, but Korkmaz said he expected he would be the one carrying them home.
But, he added, that was OK.