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04.11.2010
Strong impulses for further growth of the plastics and rubber industries: exceptionally strong willingness to invest among the over 220,000 trade visitors
The positive market trend clearly felt in the immediate run-up to the world’s biggest trade fairs for the plastics and rubber industries also characterised the course of K 2010 Düsseldorf and made for an excellent mood amongst the 3,102 exhibitors. Companies reported an overwhelming volume of contacts, a marked willingness amongst trade visitors to invest, promising new customer contacts and many, also sometimes quite, spontaneous business deals. The verdict from Ulrich Reifen- häuser, Chairman of the Exhibitor Council for K 2010, is therefore correspondingly positive: “K 2010 was held at the right point in time and has provided all areas of our industry with new impetus. The many and sometimes quite unexpectedly specific contract negotiations entered into at the trade fair speak for themselves!”
Delighted by the good results Werner Matthias Dornscheidt, CEO & President of Messe Düsseldorf, said: “Registering more than 220,000 trade visitors K 2010 has clearly exceeded expectations in the sector given the crisis now finally drawing to an end! We are very satisfied that the trade fair succeeded in providing strong impetus for further growth and that our exhibitors were able to do business with numerous international customers of high decision-making competence.”
Compared to the previous event in 2007 visitor attendance was down by nine percent. But then the industry was in a boom phase, which came to a sudden end soon after as a result of the global economic and financial crisis.
It was especially the wealth of new technical developments presented by raw material producers, machinery manufacturers and producers of technical com- ponents that enthused the trade visitors travelling from over 100 countries to visit K 2010 in Düsseldorf. Commenting on this Ulrich Reifenhäuser said: “It can be clearly felt that an investment backlog formed during the global economic and financial crisis. Now demand is rising on a global scale and we register overwhelming customer interest in our buyer sectors. The innovations launched at K 2010 are stimulating a powerful thrust in orders taken. Companies are now benefiting from also having consolidated their strengths in hard times, developing innovations and decisively strengthening their competitive edge!”
Close to 60% of K visitors came from outside Germany. The experts came from far more than 100 nations and all continents – they even travelled to the Rhine from Ethiopia, Costa Rica, the Ivory Coast, the Falkland Islands, Mauritius, New Caledonia and Turkmenistan. It became clear that amongst the international experts attending a further shift towards overseas visitors has taken place. At K 2007 57% of all foreign guests still came from Europe; this year this percentage was down to 54%. This means the proportion of experts from overseas rose to 46% of all international guests. The biggest group here came from Asia – with approximately 30,000 experts. With about 11,000 guests the Indian subcontinent again accounted for the largest share of Asian visitors. A substantial increase was also registered in the number of trade visitors from Turkey and from Israel with 4,100 and 3,600 business people, respectively (compared to 2,800 and 2,300 at the previous event). Compared to K 2007 there were also more visitors from Egypt, Brazil and the United Arab Emirates.
With 10,500 business people the number of guests from Latin America as a whole has remained unchanged; to the tune of 6,800 trade visitors came from the USA and Canada.
Visitors from neighbouring European countries were dominated by France and the Netherlands (with approx. 7,000 visitors each) followed by Italy, Belgium and Austria.
For roughly two thirds of all the visitors polled machinery and equipment building ranked first in terms of interest in ranges. 48% – and hence 7% more visitors than at K 2007 – stated their interest in raw materials and auxiliaries while for 26% semi-finished products and technical plastics and rubber components were the major reason for their attendance (multiple choices possible). 62% of all visitors represent top and middle management.
K 2010 got full marks from visitors for the ranges on display in the 19 exhibition halls. 97% of all experts praised the event saying they fully achieved the aims of their visit.
Plastics can look forward to a bright future as a material for creative ideas, particularly in the field of energy efficiency and saving resources. This insight was not only reflected by numerous examples on show at the exhibitors’ stands from 56 nations. The Special Show “Visions in Polymers” also picked up on this theme meeting with great interest among experts from throughout the world. Film sequences, selected exhibits and discussions with experts from industry and science highlighted the development trends on the horizon and the novel appli- cations the future can bring. The German plastics industry was responsible for the organisation of “Visions in Polymers” under the aegis of PlasticsEurope Deutschland e.V. and Messe Düsseldorf.
The next K Düsseldorf will be held from 16 to 23 October 2013.
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21.4.2010
Innovation Compass shows the direct route to the highlights of K 2010 Düsseldorf - Committee of experts has developed search matrix for trade fair preparation
No other trade fair in the plastics and rubber industry presents an array of products and novelties as large and varied as K 2010. The high international representation among the 3,000 exhibitors who will be in Düsseldorf from 27 October to 3 November guarantees that all segments will be reflected at world market level. And because each participant naturally wishes to showcase attractive innovations, preparations for K 2010 are in full swing at all of the exhibiting companies.
No other trade fair in the plastics and rubber industry presents an array of products and novelties as large and varied as K 2010. The high international representation among the 3,000 exhibitors who will be in Düsseldorf from 27 October to 3 November guarantees that all segments will be reflected at world market level. And because each participant naturally wishes to showcase attractive innovations, preparations for K 2010 are in full swing at all of the exhibiting companies.
To make it even easier to find all of these many new developments, a tool is currently being developed that will show the direct route to all the highlights – the Innovation Compass. Under http://www.k-online.de/, it will enable users to tailor their own visit to K 2010, making sure that they can make the most of their time at the trade fair.
The Innovation Compass will go live some six weeks before the trade fair opens its doors. It offers a search matrix for innovations that can bring major improvements or even fundamental changes, thus making it possible to generate real competitive advantages.
In developing and implementing the Innovation Compass, Messe Düsseldorf and the Exhibitors Council of K 2010 will be supported by the newly set up Scientific Council for the event. Prof. Dr. Volker Altstädt of Bayreuth University, Prof. Dr. Hartwig Höcker, professor emeritus of RWTH Aachen University, Prof. Dr. Matthias Rehahn of TU Darmstadt and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Johannes Wortberg of Duisburg-Essen University have defined the main themes for the search matrix and the acceptance criteria for the Innovation Compass. In doing so they were actively assisted by the representatives of the organisations supporting K Düsseldorf – PlasticsEurope Deutschland e.V., the Plastics and Rubber Machinery Association within VDMA e.V., Gesamtverband Kunststoffverarbeitende Industrie e.V. (GKV) (the Central Federation of the Plastics Processing Industries – GKV), and Wirtschaftsverband der deutschen Kautschukindustrie e.V. (WdK) (Association of the German Rubber Industry – WdK).
The main themes of the Innovation Compass cover products and processes which will have a decisive impact on market trends in the plastics and rubber industry over the coming years. For Raw materials/auxiliaries, these are:
• Optimisation of standard plastics and rubber
• Plastics made from renewable resources
• Modification of plastics and rubbers with nanoscale particles
• Functionalised plastics, components and surfaces
• Plastics and rubber for lightweight structures, incl. foams
• Fibre composites and their processing
• Materials / hybrids
The Machinery/Equipment segment covers the following topics:
• Faster manufacturing processes
• Increased throughput
• Faster production changeover times
• Integrated manufacturing processes
• Optimisation of subprocesses
• Energy efficiency
• Materials efficiency
Exhibitors at K 2010 who have innovative contributions to make to the above main themes with their products, processes or applications can be included in the Innovation Compass. This gives them the opportunity to demonstrate their performance capability by posting selected exhibits and to measure their innovative power against that of the sector leaders. Interested companies describe their products and explain why they constitute innovations in relation to the associated theme. Trade visitors, on the other hand, can gain insights into new developments in the areas of importance to them even before K 2010 opens its doors, contact the suppliers in advance, and learn more about these exhibits at the trade fair itself.
Exhibiting companies can submit their contributions starting in June 2010, with the assurance that no contribution will be published before September 2010.
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