Now the 11th Composites Europe – featuring the tagline “Connecting business in the composites industry” – is scheduled to take place in Düsseldorf from 29 November to 1 December 2016. New formats such as the Lightweight Technologies Forum will be introduced at the trade fair in order to emphasise even more strongly on the needs of composites-deploying industries while putting the spotlight on lightweight construction and multi-material design. Resource efficiency will be another key topic at the show. “Composites Europe has become firmly established as an international business platform for the composites industry in Germany,” said Olaf Freier, who manages the trade fair as event director for organiser Reed Exhibitions. Nearly half of the more than 10,000 visitors travelled to the trade fair from outside Germany. “We want to bolster the links between the composites industry and user industries at the trade fair, so we're integrating complementary target group-specific concepts that promote matchmaking and generate business,” he added. Reed claims that one exhibition stand and five formats have represented the successful concept behind the growth of Composites Europe since 2006. The 470 exhibitors from 29 nations at the last show didn't just present their innovations on the exhibition floor; they also brought them to event zones like the Product Demonstration Area and “Industry meets Science”, the presentation forum, themed tours, and workshops. Plans for Composites Europe 2016 call for the expansion of the automotive, aerospace, wind power and construction sectors, in particular. A representative survey of trade fair visitors has shown that lightweight construction represents one of the biggest challenge areas for the industries that use fibre-reinforced plastics. Roughly every other respondent considered lightweight construction a priority when it comes to developing innovative components, followed by the reduction of materials costs, automation and shorter process cycles. In addition to the development of new products, the industry's current research focus is on multi-material composites systems in structural components. “The development of lightweight multi-material systems beyond individual materials groups is and will remain a key issue across materials,” Freier continued. “With the introduction of the Lightweight Technologies Forum we're providing a forum for this topic at Composites Europe 2016. Our industry network leverages the ALUMINIUM trade fair to integrate the topics aluminium and magnesium, which supplements the very target group-specific concept by covering the latest issues surrounding lightweight multi-material construction.” Exhibitors and visitors alike will benefit from the tie-ins with the parallel event ALUMINIUM 2016 in Düsseldorf. “Featuring fibre-reinforced plastics alongside aluminium and magnesium, Düsseldorf will be the largest trade fair marketplace to tackle the lightweight construction challenges facing automotive and mechanical engineering, aerospace, the sports and leisure industry, and the wind power and construction sector,” noted Freier. Composites Europe and the ALUMINIUM World Trade Fair are a successful trade fair duo with a combined 1,500 exhibitors and 38,000 experts from industry, research and development. Resource efficiency in production and processing will be another headline topic at Composites Europe and ALUMINIUM 2016. “Against the backdrop of increasing cost pressure, using man, material and machine as efficiently as possible will be vital for the continued competitiveness of the industry,” concluded Freier. Kicking off Composites Europe again in 2016 will be the International Composites Congress (ICC) organised by the trade association Composites Germany, whose members include the AVK, Carbon Composites, CFK-Valley Stade and the Forum Composite Technology in the VDMA. In addition, Composites Germany will host its first-ever stand at the trade fair – a pavilion with a floor space of more than 300m² – to draw attention to the group's services www.composites-europe.com
