Added attractions on exhibition floor

In addition to offering visitors the chance to view products and services from a wide range of companies, easyFairs Maintec 2011 will feature some show floor excitement.We take a look at what's on offer

Now in its 36th year, easyFairs MAINTEC provides industry professionals with a show experience that addresses the challenges of meeting today's productivity, efficiency and compliance demands. easyFairs MAINTEC 2011 is a show where industry professionals have the opportunity to check out the latest innovations from a wide range of companies - from condition monitoring specialists to vibration sensor suppliers, and training providers to access platform providers.

For 2011 three exciting show floor features have been added - Stop the Hazard, Lions' Lair, and the Leak Detection Challenge.

Run the risk The importance of health and safety cannot be overstated and with many high profile stories making headlines, easyFairs MAINTEC 2011 has teamed up for the first time with leading health and safety training provider, RRC to provide state-of-the-art training. The computerised Stop the Hazard Game will be launched at Birmingham's NEC on the 29 to 31 March 2011.

RRC hopes to show that accidents have risen because some people on the ground don't understand how to assess risk. Poor health and safety leads to accidents and significant costs to any business. This is an opportunity to brush up on health and safety skills for all those working in the logistics, distribution and supply-chain functions through to operations, plant and production managers.

Gary Fallaize, managing director at RRC Training comments: "Just recently a Warwickshire firm was fined a total of £4000 and ordered to pay £2500 in costs, after admitting failure to provide training and a safe system of work for unloading lorries after a worker suffered crush injuries." The computerised Stop the Hazard Game is all about spotting the hazard before it is too late. The interactive training will be displayed on a large computerised plasma screen where individuals will have the opportunity to complete certain activities and find the deliberate hazards.

David Towlson, director of training at RRC, explains: "Participants will be able to drill down on various 'hotspots' where they will see a mix of animation or still illustrations showing various hazards. Delegates will then click on what they think are the hazards and get points for those correctly spotted; missed ones will also be highlighted. There will be a 'top-gear' style leader-board, and the delegate with the top score on each day will win their company £500 worth of RRC Training." Towlson continues: "Employers have both a moral and a legal obligation to ensure that their employees work in both a safe and healthy environment. So, to accompany the game, we are running a straightforward short training course on material handling - fantastic for anyone who wants to brush up on their skills." RRC training will also be giving visitors free single-user access for two months to its training website. Plus staff will be handing out cards with log-in details for a special offer, valid for three months, and a 20% time limited show offer on any other RRC courses, including in-company training and bespoke developments.

For further information on RRC training please visit: www.rrc.co.uk/.

Thrown to the Lions! The latest maintenance ideas will be pitched to industry expert 'Lions' at a Dragons' Deninspired contest which will take place during the show for the first time.

There will be no sign of Theo Paphitis or Peter Jones - instead, Graeme Coyne, business manager - IA&DT service, support & training development at Siemens, Paul Dennis, technical facilities manager at Experian and Richard Wilkins, centre of excellence business process owner - maintenance from MARS will form the Lions' Lair judging panel and will be casting their critical eyes over an array of the most pioneering products put forward by four exhibiting companies.

The first company stepping into the Lair will be Flowcrete UK (stand B18) with its latest product 'Floorgraphix.' The new product is a completely bespoke piece of floor graphic artwork; digitally generated and printed onto rolls of specialist material then sealed into the floor using Flowfast standard seal.

Alan Dean, UK sales manager Flowcrete UK, comments: "Floorgraphix allows us to combine endless creative design with durability associated with epoxy resin.

Floorgraphix is ideally suited to hospitals, retail outlets and car showrooms,museums, theme parks, schools, and many other applications." The second company taking on the easyFairs Lions is Idhammar Systems (Stand C15) with its 'Andon Signalling and Business Alerts' product.

Idhammar specialises in integrated maintenance and manufacturing systems - CMMS and OEE Systems. As part of the reporting output from the OEE System, it provides tailored Andon Signalling to keep the shop-floor informed of progress on their shift and Business Alerts - sent by SMS directly to pre-defined managers, depending on the severity of the breakdown/production issue.

The third company looking to take on the MAINTEC Lions, will be putting forward its product 'FAME' (Facilty and Asset Management in one Environment). MACS EU, a business partner of IBM, sells the Asset Management software Maximo. It decided to create and develop its own Facility Management solution within IBM Maximo.

FAME is the first option in the world of Facility Management fully integrated in IBM Maximo.

Also looking to impress the Lions is the Siveco group (stand D17). The company will be demonstrating its new M.tv product, which can be described as the collaborative knowhow website for engineers & technicians.

M.tv provides a platform for the global delivery and capture of maintenance and engineering knowhow which can be shared either privately or publicly as desired. It can be deployed within existing company IT infrastructures on dedicated or co-hosting servers and additionally in the cloud to reduce infrastructure overheads. M.tv can be integrated with many CMMS and EAM systems to enable the seamless delivery and collection of maintenance operations such as work orders and equipment histories.

The Lions' Lair contest will be taking place on 30th March 2011 at 1pm, with all four companies competing. Only one company will be awarded the Lions Lair Accolade, with results being announced at 2pm after the session.

The BCAS leak detection challenge Making a return to MAINTEC will be the BCAS 'leak detection challenge' which will be staged on the The British Compressed Air Society (BCAS) stand and demonstrate a mix of detection solutions. Experts from BCAS will provide an on-the-spot estimate of what leakages are likely to be currently costing visitors. There will also be Compressed Air Advice Clinics for visitors with any compressed air queries.

Find out more If you would like further information about the show, please visit the website at: www.easyfairs.com/maintec. For stand bookings and information, please contact Jerry Dawson on +44 (0) 20 8622 4416 or e-mail: jerry.dawson@easyfairs.com