“As always, the Friedrichshafen Exhibition Centre will be packed once again this autumn,” announces Annemarie Schur, Fakuma project manager at trade fair promoters P. E. Schall. “We’ll be welcoming more than 1600 exhibitors from 39 countries and celebrating lots of highlights and forward-looking solutions in the field of plastics and plastics processing on 85,000 square metres of overall exhibition floor space.” All twelve exhibition halls will be occupied, along with additional space in the east and west foyers and the east concourse, where the Startup Area will be located again this year. Expert visitors can look forward to numerous inspiring presentations at the trade fair booths, as well as a sensational supplementary programme.
The keynote speech held by professor Dr. Michael Braungart during the opening press conference at 11 a.m. on the first day of the event will undoubtedly spark a great deal of interest. His presentation will focus on the “Cradle to Cradle” design concept, which is based on new approaches to material consumption: waste materials can serve as useful “nutrients” in closed-loop cycles. The presentation is being eagerly awaited.
Attractive, Broad-Based Supplementary Programme
As a further trade fair highlight, the “2024 Fakuma Roundtable” will take place on Tuesday the 15th of October at 4 p.m. A selected panel of experts will discuss digitalisation in plastics processing. Addressing the topic of “Digitalisation – Top or Flop?”, the discussion will explore which digital tools will really help us in dealing with the challenges currently faced by the plastics industry. This programme feature is a further, exclusive Fakuma highlight. All interested parties are cordially invited to attend the discussion – participation is free of charge.
Over a period of four days, world-class technical presentations will be offered at the Fakuma Exhibitor Forum. The traditional AI Summit will take place once again on Wednesday the 16th of October, 2024. And “Career Friday” will add yet another highlight to the trade fair agenda: in keeping the motto “Mould Your Dreams, Mould Your Future”, the trade fair promoters, the exhibitor advisory board and the exhibitors have prepared a campaign for Friday the 18th of October which will provide young people with information about industry career opportunities, while simultaneously imparting knowledge in the field of plastics.
Great Interest in Career Friday as a Means of Recruiting Young Talent
Several hundred pupils and students have already registered and will attend Fakuma 2024. “Many renowned companies are taking part and have organised buses in order to ensure a lively Career Friday,” reports the project manager. “A specially organised activities area will serve as a meeting place and information centre, with various guided tours to the trade fair booths.” For example, PlasticsEurope Deutschland e.V. will offer a tour entitled “Circular Economy”, which will guide visitors through the entire value chain of a given product at the trade fair. Young trade fair visitors will gain unique insights into the world of plastics processing, product development, new technologies and workflows. This will generate tremendous enthusiasm for the topic of plastics and encourage people to get involved in this forward-looking industry – especially in light of the spectacular prize for which Career Friday participants will be eligible, namely a breathtaking flight in a zeppelin. Participants will be eligible to win one of two vouchers for a 60-minute zeppelin flight for two persons. The winners will be drawn on the 18th of October at 4 p.m.
