Unexpected business trip to Europe – 9

Over the weekend, we travelled from beautiful Prague, known as the “City of a Hundred Spires”, to Cologne in Germany.

We were there to exhibit at the international EMV (Electromagnetic compatibility Exhibition and Conference) trade exhibition alongside our North American agent, DMC.

EMV is a trade exhibition for companies specializing in electromagnetic wave technology. DMC exhibited at the event to promote sales of its specialist product: electromagnetic anechoic chambers. You might wonder why Sonora, an “acoustic” anechoic-chamber manufacturer, was also present. As previously mentioned in my article <Welcome our global distributor #1 : Haruko MINAMI, Advisor >, there is consistent demand for acoustic anechoic chambers among customers seeking electromagnetic anechoic chambers. This actually presented a unique opportunity for a joint unveiling.

However, due to the limited booth space, it was not feasible to install each other’s enormous chambers, so we decided to exhibit samples of the “wedge” sections that play a crucial role in the internal structure of the chamber. Sonora sent the new ultra-thin, high-performance, low-cost sound-absorbing wedge, named “BFW” from Japan, as shown in the image at the head part of this article.

The day before the opening of the exhibition, we arrived at the venue, Cologne Messe, and were standing by at our booth, anticipating the scheduled arrival time for all of the large shipment and small parcels. However, no matter how long we waited, they simply didn’t arrive.

Not even the large shipment that DMC had sent by air freight from North America arrived on time. For the Japanese, particularly in business where punctuality is essential, this was an utterly unacceptable situation. We were kept waiting for hours and hours and everyone’s frustration was mounting.

I was told the above-mentioned opinion by one of the German trade fair committee representatives when I worked for an exhibition in Abu Dhabi in the past.

The Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) led the organization of the “Japan Pavilion” at that time. While most of the exhibitors were large corporations with extensive exhibition experience, I supported one of the SMEs from Saitama that specializes in high-functional  materials, which enabling it to participate for the first time.

As same, the shipment from Japan to the site was significantly delayed, leaving us in a rush to decorate the exhibition booth stand. While overseas companies abandoned their work mid-task and returned to their hotels for dinner as evening fell, we remained working so hard.

Across the way, at the large booth opposite, a group wearing identical suits to those seen commonly in Japan were engaged in final discussions and rehearsing their presentations, preparing for the opening the following morning.

I suppose this must seem overly organized to people from other countries. Yet it is precisely this spirit of organization that enabled Japan to rise from complete ashes of post-war devastation and become an economic powerhouse. It is also that spirit which has produced the many advanced technologies that we can be proud to present to the world.

The aforementioned new sound-absorbing wedge, the “BFW”, is the state-of-the-art technology that Sonora can be proud of on the world stage.

However, despite the long-awaited large parcels finally arriving, our wedges have still not been delivered.

When I checked with the DMC representative to find out what was happening, I was told that the vehicle had stalled and come to a halt en route from Düsseldorf, and that it was unclear when it would arrive.

What a joke – a vehicle transporting cutting-edge wedge technology was an old-fashioned bomb!

It just left me speechless.

< to be continued…>