Domotex 2006 - Witex surprises the sector

Domotex in Hanover was dominated by one term this year: ceraclic which was the unanimous opinion of many specialist visitors and journalists at the Witex stand.
Whereas in the hard flooring sector there were only larger or smaller developments on the theme of parquet and laminate throughout the exhibition, Witex surprised the sector with a revolution: with ceraclic, the world's first mineral floor covering in panel format with a "clic" system and wear-resistant stone finish surface.

Witex has made a big impression with its return to the market with its new products displayed over 330 square metres in the laminate collections, with the new elastoclic pur product and, last but not least with ceraclic, a world first. For this Augustdorf-based flooring manufacturer this exhibition presence in Hanover has therefore led to positive results that were even better than expected. Both the acclaim of the specialist dealers and the number of visitors to the Witex stand were significantly higher than expected on every exhibition day, in fact up to 40 percent higher, and they underlined Witex's sector-wide classification as an innovator in the hard flooring sector.
"Our exhibition slogan "building the future" took off. Witex quite clearly belongs once more among the premium addresses for planners, the trade and tradesmen. That is our initial conclusion after four exciting exhibition days", said Witex's Head of Marketing Markus Schätzle.

The extraordinary success at the exhibition is due not only to the advantages of the new ceraclic and elastoclic pur products themselves but it is also certainly due to the unique way in which the ceraclic product is being marketed in the sector. For the first time, four famous firms in the "new flooring generation" alliance have got together not just to market ceraclic jointly but also to strongly underline the know-how and the potential invested in this product. The "new flooring generation" presented ceraclic in the context of Domotex in "contractworld" on its own exhibition stand, in particular to the architects and specialist journalists present.

ceraclic is a new generation of product in the hard flooring sector
The numerous advantages and areas of application of ceraclic, this world first, were impressively demonstrated to specialist visitors in live presentations over four days. But there were, as is often the case with innovations particularly in the manufacturing industry, just a few sceptics who could not yet instantly recognise all of ceraclic's potential.
However, from the point of view of Witex and the "new flooring generation" marketing alliance, which brings together besides Witex as the manufacturer and seller, Knauf Integral and Resopal as the raw material suppliers and Tarkett as the international property sales partner, the market opportunities for ceraclic can be very clearly seen.
ceraclic cannot be classified into existing product sectors but instead, in the opinion of the partner companies involved, it represents its own new generation of flooring.
This is also how it is seen by some trade groups and Witex's market consultants who share the opinion that ceraclic could revolutionise the flooring market and who have shown genuine interest in joint sales. And, although ceraclic is actually designed for the specialist trade and the tradesman, the enquiries from builders' merchants' chains show that the Witex revolution could be just as much of a popular product for the DIY sector. In any case, the product already comes with the necessary features.

Why is ceraclic not a laminate?
The question of why a laminate manufacturer is not launching a flooring with simulated natural stone as a laminate product was answered by Managing Director Norbert Kleinschmidt who is responsible for technology and development at Witex: "Showing the natural stone look on the surface is not the problem, as other products on the market show. For such flooring not to be identified as laminate flooring the first time someone steps on it, the sound of a natural stone floor must also be achieved. As has been shown by trials by market consultants, this cannot be achieved with laminate flooring. The challenge with ceraclic was the base material. And we've met the challenge. This has been achieved on the one hand by the Knauf Integral HGF base sheet, which at 1,500 kg/m³ is almost twice as dense as HDF and on the other by the integrated Sound-Protect acoustic system, so that the sound of footsteps is reduced overall by at least 18 dB and a soft tone similar to that of natural stone is achieved".

Areas of application for ceraclic
In contrast to traditional base materials such as wood or wood-based materials, with ceraclic Witex is focusing on fibreboard sheeting which is constructed on ecologically more advantageous principles.
The areas of application for a ceraclic floor cover the entire building sector. It is suitable both for the private construction and renovation sector (and in the kitchen and bathroom too) thanks to its high resistance to wear (Use Class 33) and classification to Flammability Class A-1, but especially for use in the construction of property subject to heavier industrial use. This is mainly where sales partner Tarkett sees the widest area of application. The high-quality, totally natural appearance of the surface and the ability to take up the laid ceraclic floor without any problems and to use it again (joint variant style), makes it possible for instance for facility managers to react to the fitting requirements of rented properties with less effort and expense than with natural stone. Whereas you need to allow for costs of up to a maximum of Euro 600 per square metre plus laying for natural stone floors in the case of less common types of stone, ceraclic, ready laid, falls into the price range of slate and marble. And with ceraclic there is a uniform price irrespective of the finish chosen.
The same properties also make ceraclic the optimum flooring for exhibitors and exhibition constructors.

New opportunities for new trades
ceraclic's simple handling reduces the handling effort for planners, the trade and tradesmen, which means there is an enormous saving in time and money, and it also offers totally new prospects to trades that do not typically earn their income from flooring.
The Witex revolution removes the narrow technical limitations of trades and there are no longer just tile and natural stone installers who can be given the task of installing a mineral floor with a natural stone look; ceraclic can also be professionally installed by painters, drywallers and acoustic installers, in fact by any experienced tradesman and added to his range of products and services. By this means Witex opens up access to totally new groups of customers both for itself and for its trade partners.

New laminate floorings for the home and business
There was scarcely less interest from the numerous Domotex visitors expressed in the Witex innovations from the core laminate business, with many new and trendy wood finishes and the new "impression" extension to the marena collection with finishes such as smoke acacia, Asian ash and Tuscan pine. marena impression is suitable for the home sector and for lighter trade use. For the classic property sector with its heavy demands Witex showed its "castilia" collections with seven new finishes such as for instance African zebrano, American rosewood and Mediterranean Cypress and "grande" with panels in XXL format. Both collections have among other things an antistatic treatment to prevent static electricity buildup and they are suitable for machine cleaning.

Less is more with elastoclic pur
The slogan "less is more" under which "elastoclic pur" flooring, which was awarded for the AIT's 2005 Innovation Prize, is marketed, is in fact misleading since the properties of elastoclic pur give users, the trade and tradesmen many more advantages than its rival, the PU rolled product that needs to be glued over its whole surface against which the Witex product is mainly competing in the market.
The first permanently elastic polyurethane flooring in installation-friendly panel format with its clic connection that has been tried and tested millions of times gives significant timesaving advantages on installation, needs no waiting times for drying phases for fillers or glues, has far fewer requirements regarding the nature of the underlying surface and almost eliminates the risk of complaints for the installer. elastoclic pur is the preferred choice for use where what matters is to have a quiet, emission-free (contains no softening agents), antimicrobial, low-maintenance floor that is easy on the ankles and warm to the feet. elastoclic pur with its positive features is the ideal flooring for children's rooms, fitness, healthcare and design with almost 100 % elasticity when subject to localised pressure.

New customers won and new markets taken over
The first analyses show that Domotex 2006 was a total success for Witex. Although Domotex is not a classic exhibition for order placement, the company nevertheless managed to make some firm contracts. Important customers were won back or won for the first time, especially in the domestic trade. In exports, the company was able to fill new niches and expand existing positions and an entirely new market has been established in South Africa. The turnover level of 100 million Euros for this year targeted by Witex's Commercial Managing Director Jörg Freyer seems like an ambitious but nevertheless entirely realistic goal in view of the success of the exhibition. The changing market situation for laminates and the two innovations ceraclic and elastoclic pur in particular give reason for positive assessments because the Augustdorf-based company will remain without competition for a relatively long time with these products. To achieve the turnover sound barrier of 100 million Euros, the collaboration in the "new flooring generation" and the S.M.A.R.T trade partner concept also presented at the exhibition make a positive contribution.

Printing free of charge (about 9,883 characters incl. spaces) - would you please give us a receipt.

Contact:
Witex International Flooring GmbH
Marketing and PR Department
Nord-West-Ring 21
32832 Augustdorf
Phone: +49 (0)5237 / 609 -0
Fax:+49 (0)5237 / 609 -180
Email: pr@witex.com
Internet: www.witex .com