Extrusion International 6-2017

33 Extrusion International 6/2017 affectionately and appropriately during her statement on the occasion of the opening press conference. Like hardly any other trade fair, the 25th Fakuma in 36 years also represents the development of German, Eu- ropean and, in the end, global plastics technology. Launched in 1981 with 60 exhibitors on 43,000 square feet of exhibition floor space, Fakuma now ranks sec- ond place throughout the world in the field of industrial plastics processing and the presentation of the necessary process sequences. Impressive numbers such as 1889 ex- hibitors and well over 915,000 square feet of overall ex- hibition floor space, as well as 48,375 expert visitors at this year’s event substantiate the steady upward trend of plastics technology and Fakuma as an information and business platform at the heart of the market. And the advancement of the internationalisation of plas- tics business is just as impressive as well: in 1981, seven of the sixty exhibitors came from outside of German, and this year 783 of 1889 came from outside of German. Current worldwide offerings for injection moulding ma- chines, extrusion systems, thermoforming technology, additive manufacturing, tooling systems, materials and plastic parts attracted the interest of 48,375 expert visi- tors from 128 countries this year, which in turn allows one to draw the conclusion that the technologies, processes, materials and solutions presented at Fakuma function as a sort of innovation motor for the global plastics process- ing industry. An active focus on users and customers based on concen- trated competence and empirical know-how combined with a wealth of information covered by the 38 presenta- tions held by renowned speakers at the exhibitor forum during the four days of the trade fair – this year as well, Fakuma lived up to its reputation as a sales-promoting transfer pool which mediates between supply and de- mand. Beyond this, Fakuma plays an important driver role with its special offerings covering all aspects of recruiting, training and continuing education which are actively sup- ported by industry institutions as well as market leading companies. And the same applies to the Fakuma international trade fair for plastics processing where the initial unveiling of technology, process, tooling and product innovations is concerned. Numerous renowned and above all market leading companies select the respective Fakuma sessions in order to premiere their latest worldwide and European innovations, in order to obtain unfiltered feedback in direct contact with a global expert audience. Amongst other firsts, system and standalone solutions in the fields of lightweight design, additive manufacturing and digi- talisation, as well as Industry 4.0, were included in this cat- egory at Fakuma’s anniversary edition in 2017, which are of decisive significance not only for Germany as a plastics technology location, but rather worldwide for all industry players. The 26th Fakuma international trade fair for plastics pro- cessing will take place at the Friedrichshafen Exhibition Centre from the 16th through the 20th of October, 2018.