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Megatrans expo booths at MCEC.
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MEGATRANS Gathers the Logistics Sector at MCEC

By Deni Kirkova|

Australia's logistics show, MEGATRANS gathered all the big players at MCEC to strike big deals. We chat to organisers Prime Creative Media about the event.

Australia's largest integrated conference and exhibition dedicated to the logistics industry, MEGATRANS gathered all the big players in the right place at the right time to start conversations and strike big deals.

The show owners, Prime Creative Media, are predominantly a publishing business with many trade magazines in their repertoire. Australia’s largest B2B publisher, they create and run their much-talked-about industry trade shows off the back of corresponding publications, gathering the industry to network and do business.

Their conference and exhibition event MEGATRANS started life as the International Truck, Trailer and Equipment Show (ITTES). When Prime Creative Media bought a logistics mag, they saw a gap in the market they could easily fill. Enter: MEGATRANS. The show is a place for logistics to showcase the entire supply chain.

Lauren Winterbottom, Show Director at Prime Creative Media, says: “MEGATRANS covers everything you need from your product being created on a production line to end-user delivery. Think packaging machines, forklifts, wrapping, palettes, fuel, wheels, parcel tracking devices, POS systems, courier companies, and more.”

People sitting at tables made of wooden pallets at the Megatrans expo at MCEC.
A New Expo, A New Chapter

The event began in 2018 as a brand-new show, and it was Prime Creative Media’s first foray into working with Melbourne Exhibition Centre (MEC). After that, they ran Melbourne International Coffee Expo (MICE) here in 2019. This year, they ran both shows here again.

Prime Creative Media migrated their logistics and coffee shows to MCEC for the elevated space and power, plus accessibility, tidy setup capabilities, location, and excellent support team.

Lauren says: “MCEC is a national central spot that’s easy to get to. Plumbing and power from the floor pits in the exhibition bays makes things so much easier.

“For MEGATRANS, we had a massive 11-metre silo that only just fit. The venue itself gives us the capacity to do that, to display those items in a fully covered hall. There are no pillars in the way, and we don’t have to put those items outside, which is what we had to do previously. We don’t have to build any extra infrastructure, which is helpful.

“Previously, for ITTES, we used to have to build whole marquees outside to house all our exhibitors. But that’s not the case anymore, which is great. With the launch of MEGATRANS, there was only one place we could have it, which is here. The scale at MCEC is fantastic.”

Other elements brought in for the event include big petrol tankers, shipping containers, massive racking systems constructed as you’d see in a warehouse, big palettes of stock on big shelving units, forklifts, and more. On the bulk handling side, there were lots of big conveyor systems and big bulk bag-filling systems for grain.

Megatrans branding is in the background with people walking in different directions in the foreground.
A Mammoth Team Effort

With all that to assemble, you might think bump-in and bump-out would be extremely laborious and long.

Lauren says: “Bump-in was actually very smooth because our clients are logistics professionals. MEGATRANS involves lots of big pieces of equipment, but it wasn't that hard to set everything up. Our stands were only large, simple spaces - they were designed for our needs, so it was much easier to bring the displays in. Plus, with support from MCEC Event Planner, Maxine McIntyre and the excellent team it was super smooth.”

And this 24-26 August 2022, the event saw attendees from retail companies such as Woolworths, Amazon, and Harvey Norman among others, plus delivery companies like Australia Post. Meanwhile, exhibitors included ANL Container Line, the ports, big rail freight companies, Toll Group, etc.

Lauren says: “The right people were there. I think after the last couple of years a lot of the businesses in this sector are really stretched with everything moving to online ordering and delivery services. But in terms of quality of attendees, we had CEOs, Chief Operating Officers, Chief Logistics Officers, and other decision-makers having the right conversations and delivering value to the industry. We saw plenty of leads and deals between businesses.”

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