Intermat preview: Spring in Paris

The Intermat construction equipment show comes around every three years. Held in France, it will be the main show, in Europe, for the industry in 2018. To help you plan a visit, ICST presents a first preview

Paris, France, will be the centre of the European construction industry in April with the latest edition of Intermat – the Continent’s biggest trade exhibition for construction this year.

The Paris-Nord Exhibition Centre will be home for a week for 1,500 exhibitors from 40 countries. From 23 to 28 April, it will host the 2018 Intermat show, with the World of Concrete Europe show running alongside it for the second time.

Intermat is organised by: events organiser Comexposium; CISMA (the French association of equipment manufacturers for construction, infrastructure, steel and handling equipment industries); and SEIMAT (the French association of international civil engineering, mining, construction and hoisting equipment industries).

New themes

A new feature for 2018 is the structuring of the show into four specialist area hubs. There will also be theme ‘villages’ concentrating on technological innovations. A series of talks and round tables on topical subjects in the industry will be on the agenda of each theme zone.

The four hubs are labelled: Lifting, Handling & Transportation; Earthmoving & Demolition; Roads, Minerals & Foundations; and Buildings & Concrete. The organisers said that this change was prompted by demand.

The Lifting, Handling & Transportation hub will see a concentration of those subjects, featuring machines, accessories, components, services and new technologies.

The Building Smart Village will see the BIM (building information modelling) Cabin, and it will look at digital design and robotic manufacturing, as well as digital tools on the work site.

The final theme village is The Start-up Eurovia Village. Eurovia, part of French contracting giant Vinci, is a partner in the Start-up Village, which will have 13 selected start-up firms displaying their innovative solutions. These will include rental platforms, site supervision applications, equipment management and robotic solutions.

The Thursday of the exhibition has been designated Intermat Rental Day. The organisers said that construction equipment rental is no stranger to the digital trend sweeping across the distribution sector in general. A key element will be a look at the major factors that will drive change in the rental business over the next 10 years, and how each country is preparing for it.

Look out for a full show guide to Intermat in the March issue of International Cranes and Specialized Transport.