Formnext 2018: The AM industry’s global elite

Formnext’s organisers Mesago Messe Frankfurt, say the event continues to show its best side: with just a few weeks before the exhibition opens its doors, the two levels of exhibition Hall 3 with 550 expected exhibitors and an exhibition space of 36,000m² is full to capacity.

The leading exhibition for additive manufacturing and cutting-edge production techniques has recorded significant growth in terms of the number of exhibitors and exhibition space. In addition, Formnext 2018 is using the space next to Hall 3 for supporting events.

Formnext 2018 will once again present the global elite of additive manufacturing. At the same time, an even wider range of topics will be covered along the relevant process chains, and key areas such as software, material, and pre- and post-processing (for example, for powder removal, surface finishing, or heat treatment) will also receive increased attention. Among the 550 expected exhibitors, a total of 165 are new exhibitors from 26 nations – in other words, businesses and organisations exhibiting at Formnext for the first time.

On November 14, 2018, the international nature of Formnext will be underlined by the standards summit, ‘AM Standards Forum’, which is being organised by Formnext in cooperation with the US Commercial Service, along with German and American partners. This summit is open to all interested parties. The latest developments for additive manufacturing standards will be presented at the summit and discussed with respect to special areas of industry. Participants of the summit will include high-ranking representatives of politics, leading international companies, and standards institutions.

TCT, Formnext’s content partner, is also organising a further high-quality conference programme that will bring the AM industry’s leading minds together with industrial users during the exhibition.

With young talent being of particular interest to the industry, Formnext 2018 will once again be showcasing this. The Start-up Challenge has already established itself as an important competition for promising young companies. The 2018 winners will be honoured at Formnext and appear in an area bearing the same name. The international competition for design – the purmundus challenge – will also be organised at Formnext 2018 under the theme “Preparing for the Future with 3D Printing” and will recognise creative companies. Formnext’s hotbed of ideas will be rounding out by young companies presenting in the area sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi).

The concrete advantages that can be gained through additive manufacturing in industry and mechanical engineering will be showcased by the Ready4industry user case area. This is being held by Formnext’s honorary sponsor – the Working Group Additive Manufacturing, part of the German industry association VDMA.

The AM4U platform, which started successfully last year, will continue in 2018 and offers career opportunities, further training, and the chance to make new contacts in the additive manufacturing industry. The diverse agenda includes an international cooperation exchange, a career day, and the Discover3Dprinting seminar series. This is geared toward midsize companies that are looking to get started in additive manufacturing and is being organized in cooperation with ACAM Aachen Centre for Additive Manufacturing, a Fraunhofer spin-off.

Impressed by the huge demand from exhibitors Sascha Wenzler, vice-president for Formnext at event organiser, Mesago Messe Frankfurt said: “The fact that we’ve been able to occupy all the exhibition space so well even after expanding again underlines the highly dynamic and sustainable growth of Formnext. This is an impressive confirmation of the exhibition concept that we have developed together with the industry.”

To sustainably meet the growing demand, next year Formnext will be moving to the newly built exhibition hall 12 of the Frankfurt exhibition grounds, which combined with hall 11, provides 58,000m² of exhibition space.

www.formnext.com