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| Rethinking trade shows | |
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| May 03, 2004 |
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Over the past decade, Lockheed Martin attended more than a thousand trade shows until last year, when the aerospace giant made an important realization: It wasn't worth it.
"We found that across the board we were not getting -- let me phrase it as -- the payback on these events we'd like to have," said John Hatch, vice president of global supply chain management at Lockheed in Bethesda, Md. So the company developed an approach experts say is part of a growing trend for companies attending exhibitions and trade shows. First, Lockheed cut by more than half the number of shows it attends. And instead of looking at the shows as shopping expeditions, the company now views them as opportunities to discover suppliers and to establish relationships with firms that will last well beyond the few days of the event. "The whole purpose of this is to identify small, quality businesses to make part of our supplier network. That's our end game and our goal," Hatch said. Lockheed will be among a handful of multinational manufacturers represented at the Job Shop & Manufacturing Show, which opens a two-day run Tuesday at Rockford's MetroCentre. Besides Lockheed, Caterpillar and Boeing will send representatives to the Rockford trade show, as will the Rock Island Arsenal-Joint Munitions Command, a private company that works with the U.S. Department of Defense. They are expected to present seminars on how small businesses can be certified suppliers. Rep. Don Manzullo, R-Egan, helped bring the companies to Rockford. Establishing the start of future partnerships is a smart way to navigate trade shows, said Allen Konopacki, a former industrial psychologist who heads Incomm Center for Trade Show Research and Sales Training in Chicago. He compared the approach to a trade mission, where groundwork is laid for future deals but few actual purchases occur. "Today, what needs to be done is we need to create partnerships," Konopacki said. Customers "are looking for vendors' capabilities: who has that machine, where are they throughout the entire U.S. and the world, what are the resources. They don't see that exhibit as a place to buy equipment only but as a place to create a plan for production," he said. Caterpillar is certainly taking a more selective approach to trade shows. The Peoria-based heavy equipment manufacturer has cut down on the number of shows it attends, although numbers weren't available. Caterpillar now attends only those events it believes will directly benefit the company. That could mean shows with certain types of suppliers, for example, or minority or female-owned companies, which Caterpillar promotes under its supplier diversity program. “We’re more and more selective about the suppliers we do business with. Part of that is looking at not only a transactional level, but also looking at long-term relationships,” said Kelly Wojda, Caterpillar spokeswoman. “It is not necessarily about coming home with something, but it’s maybe making those contacts.” Konopacki, the trade show expert in Chicago, said demonstrations and displays are useful, but less so as companies look beyond exhibitor products. They are interested in information about the company’s capabilities, its locations and plans for growth. He referred to the trade mission analogy: “At a trade mission, you’re not talking about selling. You’re talking about creating a process of productivity. So, think of the show as not selling products, but selling processes.” That thinking works two ways. Lockheed Martin has started holding regional “supplier days” events each year where it works with local development and business agencies to identify small businesses that might serve as suppliers. Three of the events are held annually. Half of the session is spent explaining how smaller companies can do business with Lockheed, what the company is looking for — what Hatch called “a real sense of mission.” The second half of the event is one-on-one time with each of the 80 to 100 suppliers that usually attend. Hatch said Lockheed appears to be ahead of the curve in organizing and sponsoring its own major conferences. He expects more to follow suit as his company’s success with these and its more targeted approach to trade shows in general has been positive. “Because of pre-event matchmaking and selection, the yield is much better. It’s a real win-win between Lockheed and suppliers,” he said. Source: Rockford Register Star |
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