An industry reunites at JEC

In a Q&A session, JEC Composites’ vice-president of marketing & communication, Nelly Baron and magazine editor-in-chief & head of technical content, Franck Glowacz reveal what visitors can expect to see at JEC World, held from 3-5 May 2022 at the Paris Nord Villepinte Exhibition Centre.

JEC World is back! Driven by a wave of enthusiasm and a need to get back to doing business, the premier event returns to reunite everyone in the global composites sector. The JEC World team originally decided to postpone the event after a survey of its exhibitors and partners confirmed that a large majority were in favour of moving to the new dates to May. The event will offer its JEC World Connect digital platform in parallel with its Paris ‘live’ event. Post-show, unique content will be available to extend its reach via JEC Web TV.

In terms of visitor, exhibitor targets and countries represented, what are you hoping to achieve at this year’s show?

JEC World is the leading global event for composites innovation, business and networking and we know that the industry is eager to meet again this May. After three years, the global composites community will gather at JEC World to launch new products, source new technologies and business partners, develop projects and collaborations, and exchange market knowledge. The JEC team is excited to welcome all our partners, exhibitors and visitors in Paris. We expect +1,250 exhibitors, 26 pavilions and +100 countries, representing +43,000 overall participants during the three days - onsite and online - via our platform JEC World Connect for people who won’t be able to attend.

How will you go about promoting this year’s theme of ‘sustainability’ in the drive to net zero at the event?

It’s essential to us to put sustainability at the centre of this 2022 edition. As we emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic, ensuring a sustainable future for our world is an even greater priority. Communicating and advancing the sustainability benefits of composite materials is central to JEC Group’s mission. We believe the growing application of composites will open up exciting new horizons for human activities, improving people’s lives and leading to a better, more sustainable world.

Four main conferences covering the topic will be held during the three days of the show, including ‘Sustainability of Raw Materials for Composites: Fuelling the Circular Revolution’; ‘Rethinking Composite Materials Production: The Path to Sustainable Manufacturing’; ‘Design for Circular Composite Products: Turning Waste, Recycling & Reuse into Opportunities’; ‘Applications of Composite Materials for Circularity: Towards a Net-Zero World’.

What do you anticipate from UK companies attending and can they still build strong exporting partnerships post-Brexit?

JEC World will host the biggest UK pavilion in recent years, partnering with Composites UK and other corporate bodies. We expect to see innovations coming from the UK, and let’s not forget that McLaren was the first to introduce carbon fibre into Formula One. Obviously, it’s now harder before Brexit in terms of customs and administration tasks, but if you have a good service or product, it will always sell worldwide. Certain things cannot be localised and composites need international cooperation. JEC World is here to help develop such relations.

Are there any plans to introduce an ‘exporting’ educational strand to the event?

JEC World 2022 will host a new area dedicated to education and training at the Campus Village in hall 5. It targets the younger generation and anyone wanting to improve their expertise. Demand for young, well-trained engineers is high among composite material and parts manufacturers. JEC World is partnering with eight universities and training institutes, presenting initial and continuous training in various countries. Meet with them and attend the Campus Village Pitch session on Thursday 5th May from 2pm in Agora 6, where they will present their courses. In addition, composites experts will launch an E-learning Composites Academy at the show - the first 4.0 training platform dedicated to manufacturing processes of composite materials.

Who will take part in the ‘Country on Stage’ sessions, and what can visitors expect to see in the forum and conference programmes?

The three countries of South Korea, The Netherlands and the US will be in the spotlight this year as JEC World hosts its ‘Country on Stage’ sessions throughout the show. Each has a strong presence in the composites market, so it will be a unique opportunity for them to gather experts on stage and present their specialities and excellence in the field of composites.

There will be two Agora areas hosting all the conferences, including the four JEC-curated conferences focusing on sustainability, the ‘Composites Exchange’ from exhibitors and this year’s ‘Country on Stage’ presentations. The JEC World programme will also include the exclusive ‘Session By’ conferences hosted by Altair and Dassault Systèmes. These events are free to attend and will be livestreamed on JEC World Connect.

What is your take on Industry 4.0 and will there be much evidence of it at the show?

Industry 4.0 offers growth opportunities in the composites sector as it can reduce the costs of composites parts and allow customisation. Industry 4.0 was already an important topic at the last edition of JEC World when it reached an estimated value of $71.7 billion. It is expected to more than double by 2024, and will of course be present in JEC World’s programme. Our Industry 4.0 Village will focus on smart composites production in this context, along the whole value chain and the development of new production systems. On Thursday March 10th, a dedicated conference will focus on Smart Manufacturing, and how it is critical to ensuring product quality and performance.

What have been the most recent developments in the worldwide composites market?

The absolute hot topic for all our industry is sustainability, and recycling plays a huge part of it. Composites have lots to offer in terms of solutions for wind energy, hydrogen storage, electric vehicle and weight reduction in general. This is why we wanted to put sustainability at the centre of JEC World 2022’s programme with the four curated JEC conferences. It is also a topic many of our exhibitors will highlight during their workshops, and our ‘Country on Stage’ sessions will discuss this topic, with South Korea’s ‘Hydrogen unleashes the sustainable mobility’, The Netherlands ‘Boosting the Value Chain and Sustainable Excellence’ and the US’s ‘Sustainability and Innovation – Driving the future of the US composites industry’.

Finally, what is the importance of JEC World for the sector as a whole?

The show has become a flagship of the sector, getting bigger each year. After the pandemic it is clear the major players of the industry want to gather again. Our main ambition for JEC World is to inspire the industry and spread new ideas. The good thing is innovation hasn’t stopped during these two past years, so there will be plenty for visitors to discover at the show.

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