Extrusion International 6-2024-USA

34 Extrusion International 6/2024 FAKUMA 2024 Fakuma 2024 – A Family Celebration for the Plastics Industry The 29th Fakuma international trade fair for plastics processing closed in Friedrichshafen as a great success. 1639 exhibitors presented their innovations in the fields of efficiency, sustainability and circular economy in twelve almost fully occupied halls and nearly booked-out foyers from the 15th through the 19th of October, 2024. The 5-day trade fair on Lake Constance was characterised by bustling activity, in-depth discussions and a programme packed with highlights. F akuma is becoming increasingly international. With 47.5% of the exhibitors coming from outside of Germany (previous year: 44.0%), this year’s trade fair for the plastics processing industry once again occupied a leading position throughout the world. From a total of 1639 exhibitors (3 more than in 2023), 778 travelled to Stuttgart from many different countries – includ- ing 170companies from China, 142 from Italy, 81 from Switzerland, 77 from Austria and 51 from Turkey. For manufacturers and users, topics such as increased effi - ciency, process stability, reproducibility and minimised setup times are at the top of the agenda. Consequently, plastics processors are implementing all conceivable technical and organisational measures, as well as invest- ments, to ensure that they remain competitive … be- cause they’re being forced to produce more and more economically. Roundtable Discussion The highly specialised expert community was present- ed with lots of attractive highlights as part of this year’s trade fair programme. Initially, the second edition of the Fakuma Round Table was held during the afternoon of the first day of the trade fair, this time addressing the topic of “Digitalisation – Top or Flop?” The panel of experts included Professor Dr. Michael Braungart, founder and scientific director of BRAUNGART EPEA, Miranda Burtscher, head of corporate operations con- trolling at ALPLA, Guido Frohnhaus, managing technol- ogy director at Arburg, Professor Dr.-Ing. Hans-Josef Endres from the Institute for Plastics and Recycling Technology at Leibniz University Hannover and Profes- sor Dr.-Ing. Thomas Seul from the Schmalkalden Univer- sity of Applied Sciences. The panellists, moderated by Markus Lüling, Editor-in-Chief of K-Profi, examined the extent to which digitalisation offers solutions to the is- sues of sustainability and the shortage of qualified per - sonnel. The prominent panellists arrived at a conclusive verdict: digitalisation is tops. It’s a necessity. It’s a tool for achieving effectiveness, which in turn leads to great- er efficiency, emphasised Thomas Seul. There are plenty of examples from numerous sectors indicating that digi- talisation has helped us to move forward. Hans-Josef Endres also made his case for “tops”, because digitalisa- tion offers many opportunities and practical advantag- es throughout the entire process chain – for example in order to make the flow of materials transparent by col - lecting and using the relevant data, in order to be able to reuse materials. Michael Braungart stressed that the prerequisites for closed loop processes can only be ful- filled by means of digitalisation. However, digitalisation should not be taken to absurd extremes. “We shouldn’t focus attention on irrelevant aspects,” says Braungart. “Always take a careful look at what you want to digi- talise first.” The panellists agreed in this regard: simplify and improve processes first, then digitalise them. This is the only way to ensure meaningful and effective digi- talisation. Miranda Burtscher pointed out an important task: digitalisation also results in large amounts of data that require the use of appropriate analysis tools. How- ever, the interfaces must first be equipped with a com - mon language because networking would otherwise be doomed to failure.