Since 1980 METAV and its structures have been presenting the ideal environment for intensive, constructive dialogue. Launched as an exhibition targeting the domestic market, METAV was to offer in its initial stages a presentation platform reflecting the market, above all to the VDW member companies. Accordingly, the choice of venue favoured Düsseldorf, with the clear intent to safeguard a link to North Rhine-Westphalia. A further factor was the long tradition of exhibitions by machine tool builders along the Rhine and Ruhr. Even before a VDW exhibition was premiered in 1920 in Leipzig, the German machine tool industry had hosted the most significant exhibition in 1902 in Düsseldorf.
Then METAV 1980 experienced a send-off to specification. The modern exhibition premises appealed to the participants, and dealers and importers presented products from over 20 countries. At the inauguration, a horseshoe was forged in front of the auditorium. This was then to prove a lucky charm for the exhibition in the following years. For instance, the following 1982 exhibition could welcome nearly double the percentage of visitors from abroad – and this in spite of the economic depression – with boosts to visitor numbers above all from the Netherlands, Belgium, and Switzerland. And it is primarily still the visitors from these countries, in addition to the regional guests, who remain loyal to METAV.