Cast Expo 2013

WOW! BEYOND BELIEF! WHAT A VENUE! WHAT A TURN-OUT! EXCEEDED EXPECTATIONS! ECONOMIC RECOVERY IS IN FULL SWING!

Everyone I talked to was comparing St. Louis to the prior CastExpo in Orlando and how much better this show-and-tell was! Many think it might have been to do with the venue, so many people took the opportunity to visit Mickey Mouse in Orlando with the family in-tow that they neglected really attending CastExpo. Plus, at the time, the economy was in the tank

This years CastExpo was wild! Sandy of Tonkawa Foundry emailed that she stopped by the booth several times, and each time there was "no room on the booth" as everyone was busy doing sales leads. At times, there were four demonstrations in process and metalcasters were lined up begging for more. We could have used an extra hand or two or maybe even three! Saturday and Sunday were the busiest of days and Monday was not all that bad. The venue in St. Louis was ideal and the weather perfect. Staring off on a Saturday really set the stage.

Daniel, the newest member of the team, certainly earned his stripes with the number of on-the-booth demonstrations that he performed, especially in Spanish. Simon and Chris were certainly kept busy with demonstration after demonstration - one right after the other on the stand. At the end of each day, I can safely say that the entire team was wiped out - just drained of energy. I personally was in bed just after 8pm the first night and 9pm the second night. Even Daniel said he went to sleep very early!

How do you judge if a CastExpo is successful? What the metrics used to define a successful CastExpo. The number uno matrix is always the "conversion rate" of sales leads to actual sales. The second matrix is the number of sales leads obtained on the stand - good solid bona fide "today" leads. Although the "tomorrow" leads are very important as well as it does keep the fire burning. The overall attendance at the show, 8,000+ by all accounts, is an important matrix as well. Also, the number of equipment sales is a leading indicator of how the economic environment is doing. Much of the equipment appeared to be already sold as it was being setup on the floor, and by the end of the show, it looked like all of the equipment had been sold. This is the big boy equipment - costing hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars. I am sure there are "deep" discounts on the show floor during the negotiating process as an equipment manufacturer would prefer to ship the equipment to a customer instead of back to the warehouse. Also, a very important indicator is the "quality-or type" of person you meet with - is it the decision maker - what is their role and goal in life? We came away having talked with the big boys - the top dogs - the ones that approve the writing of the checks. We met the Head Honcho of Dotson Castings who is the new AFS President and also met with the IT Director for all of Waupauka Foundries. These are the movers and the shakers. I do know that the top dogs of Bradken were there, but we did not get to meet them, unfortunately. They were their purchasing new heavy equipment.

So, in recap, the most important is the "conversion" rate into new sales and I predict we will have a good conversion rate in the coming weeks and months.

Shane Allen
Head of North American Office
Synchro ERP