Growing international reach Fakuma 2024: Overcoming industry challenges with confidence

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The 29th Fakuma international trade fair for plastics processing closed in Friedrichshafen as a great success. 1,639 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.

“Fakuma 2024 was once again a great family celebration for the plastics industry,” says Bettina Schall, Managing Director of trade fair promoters P. E. Schall, in summing up the 5 successful days of the event in Friedrichshafen, which attracted 36,675 visitors. “Already at the opening press conference, Professor Dr. Michael Braungart inspired us with his approach which holds that ‘everything can serve as a nutrient”. This was followed by discussions and meetings in the highly frequented exhibition halls and conference rooms.

Fakuma is becoming increasingly international. With 47.5 percent of the exhibitors coming from outside of Germany (previous year: 44.0 percent), 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 including 170 companies from China, 142 from Italy, 81 from Switzerland, 77 from Austria and 51 from Turkey. For manufacturers and users, topics such as increased efficiency, 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 investments, to ensure that they remain competitive … because they’re being forced to produce more and more economically.

The highly specialised expert community was presented 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 controlling at Alpla, Guido Frohnhaus, managing technology director at Arburg, Professor Dr.-Ing. Hans-Josef Endres from the Institute for Plastics and Recycling Technology at Leibniz University Hannover and Professor Dr.-Ing. Thomas Seul from the Schmalkalden University of Applied Sciences. The panellists, moderated by Dipl.-Ing. Markus Lüling, Editor-in-Chief of K-Profi, examined the extent to which digitalisation offers solutions to the issues of sustainability and the shortage of qualified personnel. 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 greater efficiency, emphasised Thomas Seul.

There are plenty of examples from numerous sectors indicating that digitalisation has helped us to move forward. Hans-Josef Endres also made his case for “tops”, because digitalisation offers many opportunities and practical advantages throughout the entire process chain — for example in order to make the flow of materials transparent by collecting 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 fulfilled 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 digitalise 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 digitalisation. Miranda Burtscher pointed out an important task: digitalisation also results in large amounts of data that require the use of appropriate analysis tools. However, the interfaces must first be equipped with a common language because networking would otherwise be doomed to failure.

Ready for the future of plastics processing

Career Friday was a special highlight this year: The trade fair promoters, the exhibitor advisory board and the exhibitors jointly organised a campaign for pupils, students and entry-level employees in keeping with the motto “Mould Your Dreams, Mould Your Future”. The objective was to inform young people about career opportunities in the plastics industry and, at the same time, impart knowledge in the field of plastics. The campaign was very well received — many exhibitors organised shuttle services, activities, tours of the trade fair booths and glimpses behind the scenes of plastics processing. More than 400 highly interested young people took advantage of this opportunity and joined the various guided tours.

The Startup Area enjoyed lively interest at its trade fair booths. And the expert forum was once again a central meeting place for the expert community for gathering in-depth technical information.

Bettina Schall is optimistic about the industry’s future. “Although the current situation is challenging and we have to deal with numerous highly complex issues simultaneously, the concentrated innovative power experienced at Fakuma 2024 is a strong indication that we’re tackling the issues with determination and confidence,” says the Managing Director. “The last several days at the trade fair have helped to make it possible to implement constructive approaches, step by step. I would like to thank all of the exhibitors and visitors for their active contribution and for their participation. All industry stakeholders are cordially invited to the 30th Fakuma in Friedrichshafen from the 13th through the 17th of October, 2026!”

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