This is one of our early posts from the inception of this blog, and I wanted to post again to see if we can spark some discussion. I’ve included the first posting, and will include the second posting later today…..stay tuned
I happened to be going through my email folder on potential exhibitors for METALCON recently and remembered this email:
“We actually visited METALCON last year in Chicago. It was interesting BUT we were disappointed to discover that the North American market is approx 15-20 years behind Europe in terms of product development and usage. We were amazed how primitive some of the solutions displayed were. Noah built his ark with some of the products on display !! We tried to involve a couple of manufacturers in joint ventures but got petty blank looks….We therefore decided to leave the US to ‘do their own thing’ and try and sell our hi-tech products elsewhere. We are now involved in big projects in the Middle East/Gulf region where there seems to be more of an appreciation of our more sophisticated products. What a shame.”
This email came to me about 8-9 months ago and it’s been in the back of my mind for a long time. Is our industry in the United States truly 15-20 years behind the European market or is this a slight arrogant statement from a manufacturer? I find it extremely hard to believe that the solutions many of the exhibitors provide at METALCON are primitive or are they? This just makes me wonder how much business all of you are doing in the European market or if this is just an isolated, arrogant perspective from a potential participant at METALCON. What are your thoughts on this and can we get him off his high horse?