Concrete – the smart material
Gathering about 2,000 attendees, the BetonTage congress provides the key platform for continuing training in concrete and precast construction. The date of the next event is fast-approaching: representatives of the national and international precast industry will again meet at the Edwin-Scharff-Haus Congress Center in Neu-Ulm from 18 to 20 February 2014. Its comprehensive technical program includes a wide variety of topics and high-profile speakers who will talk about current industry-relevant requirements in the engineering, business and legal fields. The organizing team of the 58th BetonTage are very much focused on ‘hands-on’ presentations highlighting common industry practice. Key topics include current trends in standardization, building materials and production processes and their implementation on the shop floor.
The plenary sessions scheduled in the morning will deal with more generic issues going beyond specific product categories whereas the afternoon sessions will be comprised of simultaneous panels concentrating on concrete pavers, structural precast, cast stone, precast components with lattice girders, lightweight concrete, and pipes and manholes. Once again, leading industry organizations will play their part in shaping the event. The program on the third congress day is dedicated to the market partners of the industry. For many years, architects, construction contractors, structural designers from engineering offices and public-sector representatives have been using the BetonTage as a platform for their continuing training and sharing of knowledge and expertise across disciplines.
Focus on management tools
The practical workshop to be held at the Ferdinand-von-Steinbeis-Schule in Ulm will again include hands-on demonstrations to highlight issues encountered during the day-to-day production workflow. This special training session scheduled for the second congress day is dedicated to production managers working at the precast plant and has become an integral part of the BetonTage.
Yet the congress also covers topics of great interest to business managers: Which leeway is there for negotiating prices in a fiercely competitive environment? Will the changes to the risk classes introduced to the statutory accident insurance scheme result in steep cost increases? Which incentives are in place to improve operational health and safety? Which are the current trends and changes in labor law? Of which practical use are social networks and construction and building materials apps to precast producers?
Benchmarks from practice – guest country Austria
Be it topical research, tailored public relations activities or the implementation of codes and standards: due to its ‘compact’ size, Austria is in a better position than some of its larger neighbors in many areas. Insightful presentations will illustrate how ground-breaking developments in the concrete and precast industries can be initiated and implemented successfully. The previous ‘block presentation’ format was changed to integrate the speeches as kick-off presentations in the individual panels that cover various fields and product categories.
Industry gathering with an amicable atmosphere
All major representatives of the supplier, engineering and software industries will attend the event. They will use the exhibition to be held alongside the congress to showcase their current product and service offerings. The Innovation Prize for Structural Concrete Products of the Supplier Industry will be awarded to the best new products. This prize is awarded annually in cooperation with the BFT International Concrete Plant + Precast Technology industry magazine. It includes a total prize money of 3,000 euros. Businesses are requested to submit their entries until 30 November 2013.
Yet the BetonTage are more than ‘just’ a precast congress − this event is second to none as an industry forum. The networking with colleagues and market partners, its amicable atmosphere and even the long-standing congress venue that is bursting at the seams every year: all these are features typical of the BetonTage that make the congress a very special event.
For more information, please visit the organizer’s website at www.betontage.com or contact the organizer directly.
