A Globetrotting Company
Exhibitions are a window to the world. For an international company, taking part in major exhibitions is critical. KNF’s own exhibition history stretches all the way back to the 1960s. And some exhibition visits turned into mini adventures.
ACHEMA, which has since become the world’s largest exhibition for chemistry, chemical process engineering and biotechnology, is a must-attend event even in KNF’s early days. Today, KNF has even two exhibition booths at the event, one in the area of laboratory and analytical techniques and one in instrumentation, control and automation techniques. KNF’s first booth in 1964 consists of a red carpet, some fabric and a few battens, which the staff crams into an already overloaded Volkswagen Bus. “But it ended up looking great,” recalls Erich Becker. As a young company, KNF catches everyone’s attention with an aquarium at an exhibition in Karlsruhe where it is presenting its Jacuzzis – still part of its product range at the time.
Between networking, holding meetings and being on your feet all day long, exhibitions can be quite exhausting. And this is no different when KNF exhibits in Hanover. After traveling across a good portion of the country in the Volkswagen Bus at a top speed of only 80 kilometers (50 miles) per hour, the KNF delegation arrives tired and hungry, so Erich Becker takes them all out to dinner. Exhibiting is a feat of strength, but those involved are highly motivated, as the fruits of their labor offer immediate gratification.
KNF attends its first exhibition abroad in 1968. Erich Becker is prepared for everything. With gas stove, saucepans, sleeping bag and tent all safely packed, he heads for France – in the midst of “May 68.” It is the year in which KNF establishes its first subsidiary abroad in Alsace, and it also happens to be the year of student protests taking place across France. “It looked like a war zone in the television reports. So I decided to take all my camping equipment with me and even made sure to bring canisters with 100 liters of extra gasoline so as to get to Paris as quickly as possible.” But when Becker arrives, the exhibition hall is eerily quiet, as the general strike has brought the entire country to a standstill. “We ended up playing boules in the hallways. And then someone brought out the wine. We swapped my spare gasoline for salami baguettes... And that’s the story of our first exhibition in Paris!” It is an interesting first installment to the company’s adventures attending international exhibitions.
These days, KNF has long been something of a globetrotter. Every year, the company presents its latest diaphragm pumps at more than 40 exhibitions worldwide.
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