Fakuma International Trade Fair for Plastics Processing Booked Out!

Fakuma 2015 � Mirror Image of the Plastics Technology Industry.

Good times for plastics processors: high levels of steady business with good prospects for growth during the current year, receptive markets across the board and cautious optimism with regard to material and energy costs – as recently announced by the GKV (general association for the plastics processing industry), not only was record-breaking turnover achieved last year amounting to just under €60 billion, business has also grown at above average rates in nearly all sectors. Hopes are thus high for the running year, especially in light of the fact that manufacturers and distributors have done their homework in all areas and are facing the new challenges consistently.

The issues of bioplastics – including flow characteristics and processability – as well as close-to-contour cooling systems for reproducibly accurate injection moulded parts with as little material consumption as possible and short production cycles, are mentioned here in a representative fashion for a comprehensive range of tasks. Depending on the requirements of the various industry sectors (packaging, consumer goods, precision parts, components for medical technology, structural parts), the technical solutions may indeed vary, but in principle the decisive factors are always material and energy-efficiency, as well as productivity and quality.

Equipped with expertise and know-how for both standalone and complete solutions in all areas of injection moulding, extrusion and thermoforming technology, the entire plastics processing industry is displaying great confidence. The associated self-assurance is not least impressively reflected by renewed record-breaking participation at the year’s number one industry event, namely the Fakuma international trade fair for plastics processing.

Longstanding Fakuma project manager Annemarie Lipp concerning the booking situation after the official registration deadline: “Fakuma has been entirely booked out since the end of February: all available halls and ancillary floor space at the Friedrichshafen Exhibition Centre are once again fully occupied. Due to the fact that Fakuma is held twice every three years and will thus not take place in 2016, many manufacturers and distributors wanted to take advantage of the opportunity of participating in the continuing boom for plastic products, or of profiting from substitution options through the use of new plastics and composites.”

For private trade fair promoters P. E. Schall GmbH & Co. KG, the full-house occupancy situation is of course highly encouraging, but numerous potential exhibitors will literally have to be excluded as a result because exhibition floor space is simply limited. As trade fair promoter Paul E. Schall explains in this respect: “With more than 1700 exhibitors and overall exhibition floor space amounting to 970,000 square feet, Fakuma has in the meantime reached a magnitude that we don’t want to significantly exceed. We’re in agreement with the exhibitors that quality is more important than quantity with regard to the expert visitors, and we’re in agreement with the expert visitors that we’ll continue to showcase current worldwide offerings for plastics processing technologies with regard to processes, components, subsystems and complete solutions. And thus emphasis is placed on qualitative growth in every respect, which is convincingly demonstrated by the sector-oriented, but nevertheless cross-discipline product and service offerings once again at the 24^th Fakuma.”

The Schall Group of Companies
Trade fair promoters P. E. Schall GmbH & Co. KG and Messe Sinsheim GmbH of the Schall group organise pioneering technical trade fairs and crowd-pulling public exhibitions. Depending upon event scheduling, 16 international trade fairs are held both nationally and globally, and six renowned exhibitions are promoted in Germany covering leisure activities each year.

Trade Fairs organised by P. E. Schall GmbH & Co. KG: Control, Motek and Optatec are global frontrunners, and are recognised as leading international trade fairs. Fakuma and Blechexpo have also established themselves at the international level and place second in the global rankings for their respective sectors.

Exhibitions organised by Messe Sinsheim GmbH: Echtdampf-Hallentreffen (Karlsruhe), Faszination Modellbahn (Sinsheim), Faszination Modelltech (Sinsheim), Agri Historica (Sinsheim), Faszination Modellbau Friedrichshafen, Modellbahn (Cologne).

The Schall group of companies traces its origins back to 1962 and has evolved into an internationally esteemed nucleus for the promotion of technical issues.