WoTS in a Name?
How reimaging the HET Instrument exhibition will meet the demands of today’s integrated business chain model.
Even if you never visited the HET Instrument exhibition in The Netherlands, you may have read about it in magazines or heard about it from colleagues – it’s renowned in the industry. Just how memorable it had become was illustrated to me while vacationing on the tiny island of Alderney; when the cab driver discovered my connection to HET, he waxed lyrical about his experience at the exhibition – though that was many years before he changed profession and location.
Despite its renown, from 2014 HET Instrument will change its title to World of Technology & Science (WoTS). The new event is a collaboration between two Dutch associations, FHI and FEDA, and presents four themes or “worlds”: industrial automation, industrial electronics, laboratory technology, and “motion and drives”. The event will provide an opportunity for visitors from industry and science to get a sense of the full breadth and complexity of today’s technologies (and technology companies) by uniting exhibitions that were related but previously separate in time and location. The World of Laboratory Technology is closest in spirit to HET Instrument, which, since 1956, has served as a showcase for instruments for scientific and industrial customers.
WoTS will present exciting technology for all kinds of practical and abstract applications. The practical component takes the form of high-tech equipment while the abstract is in the coverage of interactions in business chain development. Many industries function in this way: strong partnerships across several global players underpin operations that have new levels of speed and quality. Of course, the scientific world has always been a ‘global village’.
Integration is the order of the day and the real power in WoTS is the collective members who create added value for their customers and provide a strong connection to specific areas of technology. Previously, around thirty members of the Laboratory Technology sector built a “Live Lab” at each HET Instrument event. The theme of the lab varied, ranging from water analysis to crime scene investigation to sports laboratory. For WoTS, the concept has evolved into X-peditions, which develop storylines that delve into the knowledge of several companies. X-peditions will guide visitors through six to eight booths, illustrating technology, content and cooperation that builds into a solution around different broad themes, for example, safety.
We believe that visitors are looking for knowledge in the form of solutions to problems. The Live Labs and X-peditions will be entertaining projects that do this in part by encouraging interactions. Visitors are no longer satisfied by learning about the innovations of individual exhibitors, they are looking for dynamic combinations that provide solutions to match the complexity of the business chain. Our goal at WoTS is to help make this possible.
For more information, visit wots.nl/information-in-english/.
Paul Petersen completed his studies in Business Administration at the University of Twente, The Netherlands, in 1992. “The first part of my career was focused on market research in a variety of companies. The emphasis on technology, mathematics and management created possibilities in other areas.” Lecturing in logistics, market research and project management was combined with giving courses in Six Sigma for General Electric and introducing quality systems to SMEs. Since 2000, Paul has worked for FHI (Federation Het Instrument). He started as a project manager, becoming the manager of the Electronics sector in 2003. “In 2008, I started to align the four sectors in my new role as adjunct-director. I’ve introduced new ways of cooperation, Internet marketing and a fresh approach to events as a director of marketing at FHI.”
