Composites Europe puts spotlight on lightweight construction
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. About half consider lightweight construction a priority when it comes to developing innovative components, followed by the reduction of materials costs, automation and shorter process cycles.
Supplementing the exhibition area at Composites Europe was an extensive congress and lecture programme that provided an outlook on the future of lightweight construction. Two new events premiered at Composites Europe: the 1st International Composites Congress (which succeeded the former AVK Conference) and the bio!CAR Conference. "Composites Europe is an indispensable market staple. The response has been excellent again this year. We consider Composites Europe our trade fair partner - now and in future", says Dr. Elmar Witten, the management spokesman of Composites Germany.
Parallel event Hybrid Expo on the ascent
The significance of multi-material composites – metal-plastic hybrids, in particular – in the automotive engineering and electronics sectors was also on display at the parallel event Hybrid Expo, which was staged for the second time in Stuttgart. A total of 70 international exhibitors, including many major industry players from mechanical engineering, toolmaking and R&D as well as numerous complete-solutions providers, presented the entire process chain for the large-scale manufacturing of hybrid components. A special focus at the trade fair was on process integration and acceleration during the production of metal-plastic composites. A total of 2,962 visitors attended this year's Hybrid Expo.
Composites Europe 2016 back in Düsseldorf
The next Composites Europe will cycle back to Düsseldorf and take place from 29 November to 1 December 2016 – this time again as a parallel event to the Aluminium World Trade Fair. A combined total of approximately 1,500 lightweight construction exhibitors is expected for both trade fairs. The VDMA's Thorsten Kühmann emphasises that the annual rotation of the location is appealing to the lightweight construction sector: "The targeted industry focus in Stuttgart and the cross-material event tie-in with Aluminium in Düsseldorf are ideal for us and for our industry."
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