23rd Fakuma Presents Products and Solutions from 32 Industrial Nations

The Fakuma international trade fair for plastics processing is running at full bore for its 23rd edition! The industry highlight of the year 2014 will not only more than likely be distinguished once again by record-breaking exhibitor numbers – currently 1288 manufacturers and distributors – but rather by high levels of internationalism as well with regard to hardware and software offerings for industrial plastics processing.

The multitudinous participants come from 32 industrial nations and will occupy more floor space than ever, which in turn will result in fully booked out exhibition halls at the Friedrichshafen Exhibition Centre on Lake Constance. Relative to the global market and based on the technological and commercial market leadership of German companies, Germany will be represented at the event with an impressive 675 exhibitors, followed by Italy with 72 manufacturers and distributors and Switzerland with 66 companies. Austria, China and the Netherlands place 4th, 5th and 6th with 27, 24 and 22 companies respectively.

As has also been the case in the past, there’s no lack of technological innovations in the field of plastics in 2014. This is made plainly apparent by trends such as energy and material-saving production and processing of plastics, expanding use of composite materials, improved precision injection moulding of components used in micro-technology and medical engineering, advancing functions integration despite miniaturisation and components/modules with ever thinner walls, new applications for rotation moulding technology like the thermoforming process, and last but not least 3D printing.

Beyond this, Fakuma is also benefiting from a sizable influx of suppliers who cover the entire process sequence, “from product development through rapid prototyping and tool making, right on up to series production”, now that a sort of twilight of the gods is slowly but surely becoming evident in this area in the trade fair landscape. Whereas some are feeling a great deal of pressure, supposedly new trade fair platforms are lining up on the other hand which, for whatever reason, are focused to a much greater extent on model, mould and tool making, and are hankering after the associated machining equipment.

This has little to do with the current thematic alignment of the Fakuma international trade fair for plastics processing – especially in light of the fact that Fakuma is strictly aligned to worldwide and European decision-making experts. In contrast to this, the new trade fairs for model, mould and tool making, along with the associated manufacturing equipment, have a more regional orientation and will first have to prove their stability in a highly competitive market.