Smart Trade Show Digitalization: Kautex Revolutionizes Its Trade Show Presence With 3D Technology

The K show in Düsseldorf, the world's largest trade show for the plastics industry. The booth of Kautex Maschinenbau is busy. But where are the machines that weigh many tons?
Instead, the world market leader for blow molding technology presents its portfolio completely digitally. A bold decision that pays off.

Hands-On Technology Without Physical Machines

A group of interested trade show visitors stands around the large touch screen. A Kautex sales engineer confidently demonstrates the functions of a complex blow molding system. With a few touches, he takes the machine apart into its individual parts, shows the production process in slow motion and answers detailed technical questions.

"The interactive presentation makes it much easier to explain even complicated relationships" is the conclusion. The team is enthusiastic. "In the past, we could only show 2-3 machines at trade shows because of limited space. Today we present the complete portfolio, and we can even zoom into the smallest detail," explains Dominik Wehner, Global Head of Corporate and Marketing Communications at Kautex.

A Virtual Factory Tour at the Trade Show

A few meters away, the virtual reality station attracts attention. A visitor explores a complete production system with a VR headset. Others follow what he sees on the large display. "This is like a tour through the real production," says the amazed participant. "I can even go into the machine and look at how it works from the inside."

The photorealistic presentation and the possibility to look at the system from every perspective create a completely new product experience. "This literal immersion into a machine helps enormously to understand our technology," a sales representative says, in agreement with Wehner.

From the Trade Show Directly Into the Customer's Production

The visitors are especially impressed by the augmented reality function. Wehner points a tablet at an empty area and projects a complete blow molding system at original size into the room. The participants can walk around the virtual machine and look at details from close up.

"This technology is a game changer for our sales," Wehner emphasizes. "During customer visits, our employees can visualize the machines directly in the existing production hall. The customer immediately sees how the new system fits into his workflow."

The Path to a Digital Trade Show Presence

The decision to digitalize the trade show presence completely did not happen overnight. "The pandemic was definitely a catalyst," Wehner remembers. "When Chinaplas in Shenzhen was postponed at short notice, we faced enormous logistical challenges."

The experience from this time led to new thinking. Frequent postponements of trade show dates, the enormous effort to transport and set up the machines, and growing sustainability requirements made a new direction necessary. Together with Vuframe, Kautex developed a digital trade show strategy that goes far beyond pure 3D visualization.

"We use the same technology that creates photorealistic graphics in modern computer games to present technical products"
Andreas Zeitler, CEO of Vuframe.

State-of-the-Art Gaming Technology Meets Mechanical Engineering Expertise

Vuframe's gaming engine technology is the technical basis for the impressive visualizations. "We use the same technology that creates photorealistic graphics in modern computer games to present technical products," explains Andreas Zeitler, CEO of Vuframe.

The biggest challenge was the preparation of the complex CAD data. "A blow molding system consists of thousands of individual parts," says Zeitler. "Our automated pipeline optimizes the data for real-time 3D with full detail, and it protects the technical know-how of our customers."

Measurable Added Value for the Whole Company

The investment in the digital trade show presence pays off for Kautex in several ways. The most obvious improvement is in logistics: no machine transports means not only significantly lower costs, but also a much smaller CO2 footprint.

"But the new flexibility is even more important," Wehner emphasizes. "We can react to trade show postponements at short notice, and we no longer depend on complex setup and dismantling processes."

The company now also uses the digital assets for technical training and remote support. "What excites people at the trade show also works very well in customer service," reports Weber from daily sales work.

A Pioneer in the Industry

With the digitalization of its product presentation, Kautex takes on a pioneering role. "Experience the Difference is not only our trade show motto," Wehner sums up. "It also describes our ambition to move the industry forward with innovative solutions."

"As a result of our cooperation with the Vuframe team, we now present our production solutions in an innovative and sustainable way, both at trade shows and in daily sales. The 3D models give our customers an interactive product experience everywhere."
Dominik Wehner, Global Head of Corporate and Marketing Communications, Kautex Maschinenbau

The end-to-end digitalization of product communication creates the basis for more innovations: interactive 3D views and virtual showrooms for lead generation are already in active implementation. An extension to aftersales, training and e-learning is planned.

Overview of the Complete Solution

About Vuframe: Vuframe is a leading system house for 3D solutions in mechanical engineering. Since 2011, we have revolutionized product visualization with state-of-the-art gaming technology. Our solutions make technical complexity easy to understand at once and help companies stand out in global competition with impressive product communication.

Kautex Maschinenbau has used interactive 3D presentations in marketing and in worldwide sales for dealers and partners since 2021.