60^th anniversary of “Ulmer Tage”

This year, the BetonTage congress will be celebrating its 60^th anniversary. This event had originally been conceived as an information day at the Ulm Chamber of Crafts and Trades attended by 15 participants who were members of the vocational training workgroup within the concrete masonry department of the Baden-Württemberg Building Materials and Minerals Industry Association. Meanwhile, it has become the largest European concrete and precast industry event. In 2015, 2,000 attendees from 21 countries again participated in this gathering held at the Edwin-Scharff-Haus Congress Center in Neu-Ulm. The next chapter of this success story will be written at the anniversary event from 23 to 25 February 2016.

At the very beginning, this event still referred to as “Ulmer Tage” (Ulm Days) by many was to respond to the request of association members to get a condensed overview of latest developments in both engineering and business as well as inspiration for the future.  Back then, the city of Ulm was chosen because it was home to the headquarters of the federal vocational school for concrete workers. After the success of the initial gathering, the Fachverband Beton- und Fertigteilwerke Baden-Württemberg e. V. (FBF; Baden-Württemberg Association of Concrete and Precast Plants), which became an independent organization in 1958, continued to host this event on an annual basis. Over time, the congress has evolved to become the major continuing training platform and industry forum for manufacturers of prefabricated concrete products and their business partners, in line with the increasing significance of precast and the growing interest among industry peers beyond southern Germany and, at a later stage, the borders of Germany as a whole.

Congress lectures:
visionary and hands-on
at the same time

Many changes were introduced over the years: the program was extended to three days to include not only plenary sessions but also several simultaneous panels that cover all relevant segments of precast. High-profile speakers from business, academia and research deliver their lectures to inform attendees of current industry-relevant trends in the fields of standardization, concrete technology and manufacturing processes. To showcase the innovation potential of the industry, to instigate the transfer of knowledge from research to practice, and to inspire precast producers – these have always been key objectives of the BetonTage. The fact that the “Ulmer Tage” were often ahead of their times is also highlighted by the content of older conference programs: presentations on architectural, glass-fiber-reinforced or high-performance concrete as well as on the use of IT at the concrete plant had been on the agenda as early as in the 1970s. At the same time, the congress organizers recognized the significance of topics in the fields of business, marketing and law at a very early stage and consistently incorporated them in the agenda. “To stay visionary without losing sight of day-to-day practice” – this is just one of the many other ambitions of the organizing association. Five years ago, workshops for employees and managers from production were again put on the BetonTage agenda to renew its close ties to the core audience. The positive feedback received on the lectures and practical demonstrations is proof of the success of this concept.

Partner for designers, ­architects and the supplier industry

Yet the congress has become much more than “just” a continuing training event for employees and managers from the concrete and precast industries. Some years ago, specific panels for architects, engineers and the public sector were put on the agenda of the third congress day, the so-called “Market Partners Day”, to create a better understanding of building with precast elements whilst promoting the interdisciplinary sharing of experience and expertise. As a result of modifying the program and opening up the event to new audiences, its name was changed from “Ulmer Beton- und Fertigteillehrgang” (Ulm Concrete and Precast Training Seminar) to “Ulmer Beton- und Fertigteil-Tage” (Ulm Concrete and Precast Days) and, finally, to “BetonTage” (Concrete Days) in 2006.

Over the years, various venues were chosen to hold the event. Initially, it took place at the Chamber of Crafts and Trades and in the auditorium of Ulm Technical College. In 1981, the congress moved across the Danube river to the Edwin-Scharff-Haus Congress Center in the Bavarian city of Neu-Ulm. At the time, the move into the new, functional concrete building was an important step to accommodate the growing number of participants and also created the basis to get exhibitors from the engineering, software and supplier industries on board ten years later, which was a tremendous improvement that further enhanced the attractiveness of the congress. Meanwhile, the congress center has long reached its limit in terms of available space since about 160 national and international exhibitors book their stands every year, with a large number of additional companies on the waiting list. On the other hand, it is precisely this crowdedness and cozy atmosphere that is at the very heart of this long-standing event that provides a platform for not only sharing experience and expertise but also establishing and maintaining networks among industry peers and business partners.

With passion and dedication

And what would such an event be without the people behind it, after all? It all started with its initiator, Erno Kuthe, the then FBF managing director who put a lot of passion and dedication into organizing the gathering right from the beginning, followed by his successor, Dr. Karl Hornung, who was firmly committed to further expanding the scope of the congress together with his wife, Almut Hornung, from 1988 to 2000, and, finally, the current managing director, Dr. Ulrich Lotz. Since 2002, he has worked together with the then head of organization, Anja Muschelknautz, and her successor, Stefanie Blank, to make sure that the congress remains a success story. They are supported by additional staff at the association headquarters in Ost-fildern.

New target audiences, supplementary hands-on workshops and a growing internationalization of the congress: these were the landmarks of the last 15 years. 2014 saw the first edition of BetonTage asia in Shanghai, the spin-off of the main event at which the organizer provides consultancy and advice regarding the agenda and acts as a facilitator. Prof. Hans-Joachim Walther, of Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences, supports the team in his capacity as Technical Program Manager.