ZEPPELIN/CAT @ bauma2019

The Challenge

How can more than 2,500 ZEPPELIN and CATERPILLAR employees travelling from all over the world be organised? How can hundreds of thousands of visitors quickly and easily find the right product specialist? How can a large number of meeting rooms as well as hospitality areas in various catering zones be managed as effectively as possible?

What digital options are there for mobile and innovative lead generation? And not to forget the large number of guided stand tours booked in advance of the event that also need to be administered. Optimal resource planning was therefore the core requirement. In addition, technical networking across several thousand square metres in the exhibition hall and the outdoor demo area was required for the telecoms system and PC workstations.

The Solution

XFAIR’s web-based Event Management System (EMS) served as the central tool. In addition to multilingual online registrations, hotel booking, printing staff name badges in combination with check-in / check-out and access control systems, EMS also acted as a central information and communication tool at the various reception desks. Clear administration of meeting rooms, lunch bookings and guided stand tours was made significantly easier by EMS as an all-in-one solution. For fully automated visitor data capture for lead generation, the XFAIR-developed EMS.Lead app was used. Detailed planning and laying several kilometres of fibre and network cabling were necessary to create a homogeneous and highly resilient network.

Our Services:

• International project management with contacts across various business units to define the exact requirements

• EMS.registration for registration of different groups (staff, dealers, business travellers, …) in responsive design

• EMS.hotel for hotel bookings

• Complete hotel allotment management including initial bookings, rebookings and rooming lists for connected hotels

• Hotline and back-office services for participant correspondence

• EMS.basic for participant search, presence/absence status, badge printing, sending short messages, speed dial, …

• EMS.check-in for staff check-in / check-out via RFID badges

• EMS.check-in app for staff check-in / check-out via smartphone/tablet

• EMS.access for access control to secured rooms (e.g. cloakroom)

• EMS.schedule for administration of meeting rooms, lunch bookings and guided stand tours

• EMS.Lead app for mobile lead capture

• EMS.reporting for detailed reporting on all captured data

• Interface development to the customer’s CRM/ERP system

• All hardware including telephone system, web/database servers, PC clients, telephones, check-in terminals, badge printers, electronic door signs, iPads, multifunction printer, general network equipment (switches, router, firewall, …) and much more

• Delivery and installation of several kilometres of fibre-optic and network cabling

• Multilingual training and staff onboarding

• Service personnel in the hospitality area

• Stand-by service throughout the entire trade fair period

• Dismantling and de-installation

The Result

Thanks to the solutions deployed by XFAIR, all information relating to stand organisation and participant management was available quickly and easily at any time. This significantly improved the visitor experience. Long waiting times were avoided, and visitors could be connected directly with the right stand staff — leading to a new benchmark for captured new contacts. In hospitality, too, XFAIR solutions set new standards in the interplay of event management and IT. This was particularly evident in the smooth operations across the different catering zones, the high number of guided stand tours carried out, and the optimal utilisation of meeting rooms across many different locations. Without a doubt, this was a demanding and challenging project that was made a success not least thanks to the tireless commitment of the XFAIR project team.