Press release by APA, Spanish Association of Automatic Door Manufacturer.

APAExpo by R+T postpones the event scheduled for 5,6,7 October at Fira Barcelona, and will bring forward to October 2022 the INNOVATION FORUM to be held in the city of Barcelona.

Companies in the automatic door sector are facing a high level of uncertainty scenario, with unpredictable consequences following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The conflict, as we reported from APA in our press release (A high level of encertainty scenario in the Spanish automatic door sector in the face of the evolution of the crisis), has intensified the generalised increase in the cost of raw materials, logistics costs, the supply of materials, components, and energy costs.

Consulted the companies in the sector and the Organising Committee of APAExpo by R+T, the expression "high level of uncertainty" is the one most frequently used by companies in the automatic door sector when it comes to visualising scenarios and forecasts, as well as possible business decisions and corrections. Being aware that it will not only depend on the duration of the Ukrainian conflict, but it is also clear to everyone that the post-conflict situation will again require the correction of forecasts and consequently their probable worsening.

In APA, Spanish Association of Automatic Door Manufacturers, being aware that the end of these negative circumstances that we are experiencing, with the desired dynamisation and normalisation of the sector and market of automatic doors, is not in the hands of the companies in the sector, nor by special actions, and in its object of supporting the sector to adapt to the rhythms and times set by this crisis, we have had to consider the justification of the investments of the companies in the International Trade Fair APAExpo by R+T and its celebration in this context, despite the demand for participation and larger areas contracted by the companies, higher than the previous editions of FIPA 2017 and FIPA 2019, due to the great expectations of the alliance between APAExpo and R+T/Messe Stuttgart and Feria Barcelona.

The risk of APAExpo by R+T success is not in the number of exhibitors and contracted space, nor in the number of trade visitors, nationally and internationally, but in its effectiveness for companies and their investments in these circumstances.

APA has monitored and consulted the companies in the sector, and especially the companies exhibiting at APAExpo by R+T, on the advisability of holding the event or postponing it until the economic situation allows us to resume it, justifying the investments. The result and general opinion were to move forward with caution and postpone the event, looking for alternatives that make it possible to continue promoting contacts and relations within the sector, at justifiable costs in this crisis.

Our partner R+T/Messe Stuttgart was informed of the doubts and unease of the companies, despite the advanced demand for participation in APAExpo by R+T, from Stuttgart they have responded positively by reinforcing our alliance, adapting, and joining the real needs of the automatic door sector, putting the needs of the sector before APAExpo by R+T.

The response from R+T/Messe Stuttgart, joined by Fira Barcelona, has reaffirmed the wisdom and value of APA's alliance with R+T, with APAExpo by R+T being a member of the R+T Alliance.

It should be emphasised that the second point of APA's Code of Ethics, which guarantees balanced relations in terms of principles and values with the entities, bodies and institutions with which projects and collaboration agreements are carried out, states: "The guarantee of the coherence of the projects and collaborations with the needs of APA and the automatic door sector. Requiring that projects are planned, profiled, matured, and led (...) in response to a real need. Opposing the creation or acceptance of artificial services, solutions and products that are not adjusted to the sector, whose purpose obeys a mere economic need or other interests of the collaborating entity, organism, or institution".

INNOVATION FORUM APAExpo by R+T, October 2022

The APA Travelling Forums, also known as National Conventions, were conceived during FIPA 2019 as a complement to APAExpo and its evolution from a biennial to a triennial exhibition. The Forums will be held during the years when the International Automatic Doors Exhibition is not taking place.