AfieldIn this article
An exhibitor directory contains potential customers, competitors, service providers and companies outside your market. Use a specific buying brief to decide which entries deserve contact research. Here is a small, inspectable example using real public sources.
Start with a source and a selection rule
The official interpack exhibitor index, letter M lists MULTIVAC, Murrelektronik and Muoto for the 2026 edition. Its site navigation now also promotes the next event. Record the edition shown on each listing instead of taking the year from the site's general header.
Demo sales brief: a supplier wants to sell custom machined components to manufacturers of packaging equipment. Select machine builders; hold adjacent automation vendors for a separate review; exclude packaging-material suppliers from this particular list.
Three companies, three different decisions
This is an editorial screening exercise checked on October 10, 2026, not an Afield customer campaign or a record of buyer interest. Company descriptions come from the linked official pages; the selection decisions are our interpretation of the demo brief.
| Directory entry | Product evidence | Screening decision |
|---|---|---|
| MULTIVAC | Its portfolio includes thermoforming packaging machines, traysealers and flowpackers. | Research next. The machine-builder criterion fits. Find the relevant manufacturing entity and supplier-qualification route; outsourced component demand is still unknown. |
| Murrelektronik | Its Vario-X page describes decentralized automation technology. | Hold separately. Relevant to machinery, but this evidence does not establish that it builds the packaging equipment targeted by this list. |
| Muoto | Its product page presents wood-fibre packaging products. | Exclude from this brief. Packaging products and packaging-machine manufacturing are different selection criteria. |
These decisions produce one company for deeper research, one adjacent account and one exclusion. “Relevant exhibitor” has not been relabeled “ready to buy.” None of the sources establishes an active machining RFQ.
Reproduce the screen in Afield
- Provide the official directory URL and edition, your product, and the buyer criterion.
- Ask for a small sample containing a clear fit, a borderline entry and an exclusion. Read the reasons before requesting the remaining companies.
- Retain the directory reference and the company product page in each result. Keep booth details only when the selected edition supplies them.
- Continue in the same conversation to research the purchasing or engineering route for the selected companies.
Research this official interpack 2026 directory for our custom-machined
components offer. Start with MULTIVAC, Murrelektronik and Muoto. Identify
which entries manufacture packaging equipment. Show the directory source,
company product source, include/hold/exclude decision and unanswered
supplier question. Do not assume that exhibiting means buying intent.If the directory cannot be read
Upload its available official export or provide the exact company entries you can open. Keep the checked subset separate from the unprocessed list. Do not switch to an older edition without changing the result's event label.
For a future event, use the shortlist to plan whom to approach. After an event, add what was actually discussed alongside the public research. A booth conversation may answer the sourcing question; the directory cannot answer it for you.