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The "accelerated" exhibition stand: Audi's presence at the 2003 Frankfurt Motor Show

Frankfurt/Ingolstadt (ots)

* New home for 4,500-square-metre Audi stand in Hall 3.0
   * 130 trucks transport 800 tonnes of materials to Frankfurt
   * 32 cars, a technology circuit, 35 kilometres of wiring and 1,300
     spotlights
Klaus Kubossek describes it as "like building a house on
fast-forward". As AUDI AG Project Manager, he is responsible for
erecting the Audi exhibition stand at the 60th Frankfurt Motor Show
(IAA) in 2003. After preparations lasting one year, he and the entire
exhibition team currently have the task of pulling off an
organisational and logistical masterstroke by erecting the whole
stand in just nine days. 130 trucks are transporting a total of 800
tonnes of materials to Frankfurt "just in time", for installation by
300 fitters. The result will be a 4,500-square-metre stand of a
sophisticated design and featuring 32 perfectly presented vehicles, a
technology circuit, a "lights roof " and a new showcar that will
"spearhead" the exhibition presence at Frankfurt in the truest sense
of the word.
The concept study will be positioned at the tip of an arrow-shaped
exhibition area that passes diagonally across the stand. A "lights
roof" will be installed above this arrow, lending the stand's
architecture additional dynamism. "This arrangement will appear to
visually accelerate our exhibition stand. After all, 
our products are all about sports-style motion and mobility,"
explains Bernhard Neumann, Head of International Exhibitions at Audi.
The dimensions that pave the way for this accelerated effect are
vast. The Audi stand measures 115 metres in length, and is 43 metres
wide. The power supply involves around 35 kilometres of wiring in
total. Kubossek adds: "The wiring harness for the roof lighting alone
measures 1.50 metres in diameter." The roof lighting is a complex
structure in its own right: there are 1,300 spotlights suspended from
the 60-tonne lighting structure, or "rig", which hovers over the
stand at a height of 8.45 metres. The lighting elements have a
combined power consumption of over 1,300 kilowatts.
Each of the 32 exhibition vehicles is illuminated by eight
spotlights. So that no undesirable reflections occur and the vehicles
are positioned in such a way that their colours and contours are
displayed to optimum effect, Audi's exhibition experts plan their
precise arrangement right down to the millimetre months in advance.
The same is true of the stand's steel superstructures, weighing in
at several tonnes, which are positioned precisely in just 36 hours by
technical surveyors with the aid of laser measurement. Kubossek
explains: "Everything has to be absolutely spot-on." Not just for
reasons of time, but in the interests of safety, too: with the 2003
Frankfurt Motor Show expected to attract around 850,000 visitors, the
stand structures will have to withstand quite some wear and tear.
The Audi exhibition stand is being erected from scratch within the
space of nine days by 300 fitters working in three shifts, in other
words around the clock, in order to keep to the tight timetable. The
logistics are a particular challenge for Klaus Kubossek and his team.
"We are transporting around 800 tonnes of materials to Frankfurt on
130 trucks. And because countless other manufacturers are erecting
their stands simultaneously in the hall, deliveries have to be
planned with scrupulous accuracy. It is precisely laid down who can
deliver what, when, and where," explains the stand construction
expert.
Most of the materials, ranging from the Audi pylon to paper
baskets, are sourced from Audi's own 17,000-square-metre exhibition
warehouse in Ingolstadt. All the materials arriving at Hall 3.0 in
Frankfurt have to be installed immediately. There is no scope for
storing materials temporarily. Just one delayed truckload would throw
the entire timetable into confusion. "It's certainly a stiff
challenge to erect the exhibition stand punctually and to a high
standard of quality," remarks Kubossek.
The exploit of constructing the stand for the 2003 Frankfurt Motor
Show will nevertheless work out. The Audi stand will be ready for
approval by the Board of Management 12 hours before the Frankfurt
Motor Show opens its doors. "Because the Board gave its approval to
our exhibition concept for Frankfurt quite early on, we don't expect
that any major last-minute changes will be necessary. Their formal
approval of the stand serves to endorse how it looks for real," adds
Neumann.
In addition to the vehicles being exhibited, the Audi stand at
Frankfurt has a technology circuit as its centrepiece: 17 exhibits
and the "Audi Pikes Peak quattro" and "Audi Nuvolari quattro"
showcars will provide tangibly close-up evidence of "Vorsprung durch
Technik". Features ranging from quattro four-wheel drive and the TDI
engine, through the DSG sports transmission and Audi Space Frame ASF,
to water and dirt-repellent windows based on nano technology, are
displayed attractively, accompanied by clear explanatory notes.
So that visitors can obtain comprehensive advice, there will be
150 Audi employees and 100 hostesses staffing the stand. The fully
air conditioned, 560-square-metre lounge resting on three-metre
columns, with its white lighting frame, has already become an
eyecatching landmark feature of the Audi exhibition stand. In the
catering area alone, the lounge offers seating for 300. Spectator
terracing in addition provides visitors with a suitable venue for a
quick break, from which to survey the vehicles in peace.
This is the first time that Audi is based at Hall 3.0 at the
largest motor show in the world at Frankfurt's Exhibition Centre (its
previous base was Hall 5.0). The 18,600-square-metre hall is home to
all Volkswagen Group brands, under a single roof. Audi has
consciously chosen an overtly purist stand concept. "We have
deliberately avoided ornamental or purely architectural elements and
have concentrated rather on clear structures that support rapid
orientation. Our communication colour orange moreover provides a
warm, human note. We are thus very consciously providing an
alternative to the sensory overload that the bustle of the exhibition
can induce," explains Richard Pütz, Head of Event Marketing at Audi.
He adds: "It is our ambition to stage every exhibition as a perfect
way of experiencing the brand."
The brand with the four rings has achieved this with an exhibition
concept that is both effective and award-winning. This year, the Audi
concept for international exhibitions at Frankfurt and Tokyo in 2001
and Geneva in 2002 was granted the "red dot design award 'best of the
best': product design" by the North Rhine-Westphalia Design Centre -
one of the world's top design awards.
Audi has simultaneously realised an exhibition concept requiring a
significantly lower investment volume than those of its strategic
competitors. For example, a large proportion of the materials used at
an exhibition will be retained for use at further motor shows, and
not simply disposed of once the exhibition has closed. In other
words, Audi is using a modular stand structure - a type of toolkit
principle. The arguments in favour of such a strategy are compelling
when one considers the number of exhibitions Audi participates in.
The Ingolstadt-based car manufacturer will be taking part in 35
exhibitions around the world this year - from Athens to Zagreb - not
to mention the "big five" events (Frankfurt, Geneva, Detroit, Tokyo
and Paris).
Pütz concludes: "With its stand at the 2001 Frankfurt Motor Show,
Audi was one of the first manufacturers to put an end to the
incessantly spiralling costs. Compared with what our Frankfurt stand
cost in 1999, two years on we succeeded in cutting the cost by 25
percent. We managed to cut the cost of the stand for the latest
Frankfurt Motor Show by a further ten percent. Despite this Audi has
still managed to create an innovative, sophisticated exhibition
presence."
Note: a photo of the construction of the exhibition stand is
available via dpa/obs. A long text version and further photos can be
called up on http://www.audi-press.com under "Company"" and "Topics,
Features, Stories" or requested by calling +49 (0)841-89-34900. Up
until September 7, please enter the user ID "aupr0336" and the
password "cow265".
ots Original Text Service: Audi AG
Internet: http://www.presseportal.de
Communication Corporate and Finance
Jürgen De Graeve, telephone: +49 (0)841-89-34084
e-mail:  juergen.degraeve@audi.de
Eric Felber, telephone: +49(0)841-89-90703
e-mail:  eric.felber@audi.de

Original content of: Audi AG, transmitted by news aktuell

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