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25 years of the Fakuma international trade fair for plastics processing are above all 25 years of plastics technologies and the products which result from them, as well as their use in a great variety of consumer goods and industry sectors. But 25 years of the Fakuma are also significantly more than two decades of consistent commitment to plastics and plastics processing, and thus to the acceptance of plastics in a continuously and rapidly changing work world and environment. Plastics have been in vogue again as of no later than the (re)discovery of resource conservation, and above all due to the once again increasing substitution of plastics for conventional metallic materials – especially in light of the fact that a great deal has also been done in the area of energy efficiency where the industrial processing of plastics is concerned.
Micro injection moulding, 2-component and multi-component processes, process and functions integration by means of creative tooling design, CFRP lightweight engineering and significantly reduced material consumption thanks to design in accordance with actual application requirements and thin-walled layouts, new dimensions of extrusion precision, thermoforming with previously unknown levels of reproducible accuracy, and finally 3D printing as well as generative/additive manufacturing to an extent which has been inconceivable until just recently – the world of plastics applications and plastics processing is more dynamic than ever, which is demonstrated not least of all by the very large number of exhibitors who have registered for Fakuma 2017.
Just less than a year before the next Fakuma opens its doors, the international trade fair for plastics processing is in top form and will once again occupy all available exhibition floor space at the ultramodern trade fair centre in Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance – as has also been the case in recent years. Fakuma project manager Annemarie Schur with regard to the current bookings and occupancy situation at the exhibition centre: “We’ve already allocated 915,000 square feet of overall floor space and are assuming that we will again have roughly 1700 exhibitors in 2017. Not only will all of the European and global market leaders be on hand – the big players from Asia will demonstrate increased presence as well. Numerous mid-sized companies from all of the industrialised nations and emerging countries will also be on hand, so that we’ll be able to present products and services from distributors and manufacturers from all over the world to the expert visitors.”
In addition to the growing electrification of drive units for injection moulding machines, attention will also be focused on the consistent automation of production and material flow, as well as the ability to integrate components, modules, subsystems and equipment into I 4.0 structures at Fakuma 2017. Digitalisation is of course advancing as well in the field of automated plastics processing and is affecting all process steps beginning with CAD and design engineering, through production, quality assurance, further processing and packaging, right on up to logistics and distribution based on actual requirements.
