PETpla.net Insider 10 / 2011

PREFORM PRODUCTION 40 PET planet insider Vol. 12 No. 10/11 www.petpla.net enable us to be at the meeting as early in the morning as you like (overnight at the factory gates) or go to eat at whatever distance you like from the hotel (and sleep over- night in the restaurant car park). The word “camper van“ does not evoke a glamorous image so we decided to give the vehicle a more prestigious title: ”Editourmobil“. The “editors“ are in it, the “tour“ takes place in it and the “mobile” home is also part of it. This brings us to the important subject of the vehicle itself. Since it will not only be travelling on the German motorways but is also destined to go to countries far away, the use of the base frame of a standard delivery vehicle was out of the question. If not an off-road HGV, then it at least had to be a robust, lightweight truck that would serve as a framework. We opted for an Iveco. Even the structural requirements were derived from the regional reports. If we were going to be bedding down in front of the plant gates the vehicle would need to be self-contained. Adequate battery power and an efficient water supply were an absolute must. Load capacity would need to take into account vast quantities of our magazines plus our mobile exhibition stand. Also essential were wardrobes, cupboards, space to store com- puters and somewhere to eat, sit, shower and sleep. And, last but not least, the pantechnicon had to cruise happily at the height of summer and in the depths of winter. A tall order for any manufacturer, but we ultimately found what we were looking for with Laika, an Italian mobile home spe- cialist, part of the Hymer Group. Prior to venturing out on the “Go to Brau Beviale“ tour, we gave the vehicle a thorough road test. The baptism of fire was a trip to the K-Fair in Düsseldorf. Whilst the team found accommodation in Essen (this meant a 1,5h commute each morning to cover a distance of 20km!), Kay Krüger and I spent the night in the car park at the Fair. This was sited directly beneath the flight path of Düsseldorf Airport. After that we decided to spend the following nights on the banks of the Rhine, right by the old town, along with all the hotel ships. Definitely a much better place to park. The second major challenge took us to Munich. We had a stand at the “Bau“ Fair in January for our other magazine. Sub-zero temperatures as low as -20° at night. The Editour- mobil came through with flying colours, it kept us warm and the water tank did not freeze. Buoyed up by these good experiences, I then ventured to tackle my first longish regional report by Editourmobil. The vehicle had no problems coping with the tour of Finland, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania (see PETplanet insider issues 7+8, 9, 10 and 11). In Finland the navigator even took me via some dirt roads where we had to negotiate rutted tracks which shook the entire vehicle. Pot- holes were a major obstacle In the Baltic States, but we came out of it with not a screw loose! Throughout, the Editourmobil has served the editors as a mobile office, comfortable hotel room and speedy means of transport for 100 days, so that we are able to look forward to the Tour of Tours with a good heart. Take this as your invita- tion to join us on the “Go to Brau Beviale“ tour , as we make our way through Germany and on to Azerbaijan and back. www.braubeviale.petpla.net instigated via the respective regional rep- resentatives of the machine manufacturer who kindly give us an introduction to their cus- tomers and then organise contact with us. An undertaking which would test my nerves to the limit and still does so. On the way from the headquarters to see the regional manager, then from the regional manager to the customer and finally from the customer back to us there are a remarkable number of variables that raise doubts in one’s mind as well as endless time costs – and all this even when all parties con- cerned have a commitment to the job. This is probably not least due to the availability of the different people in this complex chain; after all, everyone concerned has their hands full permanently and are not always on site. Time to think about visas for those involved and to discover, almost by the way, that it is not, for example, possible to enter Arme- nia directly from Turkey, nor is it possible to enter Azerbaijan from Armenia. So, without further ado, I simply extended the route by one country which we could travel through on our trip and that was Georgia. Research and tel- ephone calls yielded the information that,from Turkey onwards, taking official vehicle driv- ers certificates in the language of the coun- try concerned was to be recommended and could we please ensure that we had these attested by a notary and the district court. I made use of my time to start the ball rolling instead of simply having a fit. Finally the first feedback from the custom- ers started to come in and I was able to make a start on actually agreeing dates for meet- ings on the tour. High time too, do I hear you say, especially in view of the fact that the tour starts on October 3. In the meantime I am able to say that everything is going absolutely according to plan. You get more laid back as time goes on. Today, 20.9, the visas still have not arrived and there are some meeting dates that have yet to be finalised. But I still have almost two weeks to go ... At Brau beviale it will be directly by the transition point to the East Entrance adjacent to the PETpoint, that the EdiTour Presentation will take place in Hall 7A. Plenty of room for showing off the Editourmobil and all the bits and bobs we need to take with us. Nuremberg, Germany November 9-11, 2011 Meet us in Hall 7A | Booth 720