Now that A+A 2019 is over, the time has come for some reflections. When we started preparing ourselves for A+A we asked ourselves: what message do we want to bring across this time? To be honest, the first thing we thought of was new products. However, timing was not in our favor as we are still busy working on some truly innovative products that would not be ready in time for A+A. So... what now?
Actually, that was an easy question to answer.
Since quite some time now, we have worked out a new brand identity. We became more and more aware that our fabrics are just a part of who we are. More importantly, we have learned that the cooperation with our business partners throughout the value chain and the focus on the end user and supporting them in selecting the right protective clothing is what really counts - and what we are all here for. That is why creating this story for A+A was easy, because this is exactly who we are. And from all the positive reactions we got from our visitors we know this is exactly what the market was looking for.
We were proud to show quotes from some of our key business partners and end users expressing their positive experiences working with us. We all like having true ambassadors. And we shared our views on sustainability through the Cycle of Care. Only the complete value chain can make a true difference in sustainability, and EPD® (the Environmental Product Declaration) is a great independent and standardized way of measuring the environmental footprint of the sum of all of our activities. ProClaud™, our new audit service, turns out to address very important steps in selecting and evaluating new protective clothing; a process that is seen as difficult and cumbersome by most end users. So many welcomed the idea of tackling this important but underdeveloped part of the selection process.
In other words: we only received positive and enthusiastic feedback and were engaged in many lively discussions around these topics.
But wait a minute.
We are a fabrics manufacturer. Shouldn’t we be talking about fabrics? Yes, of course we did, but the focus was much more on our key message; the importance of working together with the value chain to deliver the best solutions to our end users.And we did give some of our key customers a sneak preview of what is to come in terms of new products - and they all loved it.
So we proudly look back to a very successful A+A. We enjoyed having many business partners and end users visiting us, and loved the pleasant and relaxed vibe that was felt during our cocktail party. This was just one of those shows that just felt really good.
So thank you colleagues, customers, suppliers, other business partners and end users for spending such a great time together.
