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Reporting back from CMS Berlin
17th of November 2025 Article by Katja Scholz
From Germany, Katja Scholz brings news of latest trends being discussed at the industry’s exhibition.
It was that time of year again: CMS, one of the most important German, European and indeed international trade fairs for cleaning and hygiene, took place at the end of September
in Berlin. The Federal Association of Contract Cleaners (BIV), was again this year one of the sponsoring associations supporting the Berlin Messe as organiser and helping the event to get off the ground.
“If people say after the fair that they enjoyed it and have taken away from it some innovations, ideas and suggestions - then we’ve done our job”. With these words, federal guild master Thomas Dietrich summed up the significance of CMS Berlin in a nutshell. And this proved to be so: the fair did indeed show the direction in which the cleaning sector is moving - and which subjects are going to dominate the market in the coming years. The top trends are obvious: artificial intelligence, digitalisation and sustainability.
Complex challenges
The expert forums were particularly well attended, said Dietrich during the fair, and interest in new product innovations was high. We find ourselves in Germany and central Europe in a situation where new technologies, robotics and AI are ready to launch on the market while at the same time tough requirements are set for sustainability and efficiency and for environmental standards for packaging, cleaning agents, etc. This presents complex problems for manufacturers and service providers. It became very clear at the fair: sustainability is no longer an optional extra, it’s a must.
The high salary and associated costs in Germany make automation and digitalisation attractive but this is counteracted by the lack of qualified staff encountered every day which affects all levels. As so often happens, the solution lies somewhere in the middle, since qualified staff are needed both for and in spite of high-tech.
Furthermore, the subject of efficiency is particularly controversial at the moment with rising energy prices, high operating costs and the necessary investment in new technologies. While large firms are able to invest in automation, this is more of a problem for smaller companies. They are battling with scarce capacity and are therefore often reluctant to make changes - whether for reasons of cost or lack of resources - factors which are not independent of political discussions and decisions.
Shake-up needed
In the special trade fair podcast from the new CMS Podcast Cube in Hall 5.2, Thomas Dietrich rates the new government’s first few months as disappointing from the contract cleaning sector’s point of view. “I hope there will be a shake-up and a move to actually tackle the necessary reforms free from any ideology and to act like a pragmatic alliance.”
The key requirement for the BIV is further bold reforms in the field of social insurance, such as pensions: “People are living longer and expect to draw their pensions for longer but they don’t want to pay more and don’t want to work any longer – this is the circle that has to be squared,” added Thomas Dietrich, wishing therefore the Federal government would “radiate confidence by action and not by arguing things away”.
A new record was set this year for the fair with the further expansion of exhibition space: more than 34,000 square metres of indoor and outdoor space were provided and over 440 exhibitors were represented from 29 countries, with growing international participation. Exhibitors from abroad came mainly from Europe and China, with new arrivals this year from the United Arab Emirates, North Macedonia, Hong Kong and Norway.
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