Additive Manufacturing has left its infancy far behind and has become established as a manufacturing technology to be reckoned with across a wide range of sectors. Formnext is the world's leading trade show for the AM world and has continued to evolve along with the industry. Today, almost 10 years after its premiere, the event has become much more than a mere trade show. Not only has the entire industry changed significantly but also the challenges faced by the organizers of Formnext. Their response has been to offer a service that goes far beyond organizing the event and encompasses continuously providing the global AM community with content on the benefits to be gained from this technology.
Whereas many exhibitors presented extravagant 3D-printed designs at the first Formnext in 2015, companies now tend to concentrate on specific applications in an industrial context. "Year on year across the entire industry, increased focus is being placed on return-on-investment alongside overall technological solutions. There was a time in which a lot of companies tried out Additive Manufacturing and only acquired AM systems so that they had the technology within their company, but that phase is definitely over," explains Sascha F. Wenzler, Vice President for Formnext at the organizer Mesago Messe Frankfurt GmbH. Nowadays, Additive Manufacturing is increasingly competing with other manufacturing technologies, and real-life business cases are often important or even decisive factors when it comes to choosing a solution. That impacts the requirements exhibitors place on Formnext. As Wenzler adds: "Companies usually need to provide a lot of consulting with this kind of technology so they want to be as targeted as possible and avoid wastage in their communication." This aspect is gaining in importance in the world of Additive Manufacturing because the technology is being deployed in a lot of different industries: Today 3D-printers can be found in dental laboratories, on construction sites, in production buildings for machinery and airplanes and on oil rigs. They are even floating through space on the ISS.
Used in a wide range of industries
"Our exhibitors supply all these sectors all along the upstream and downstream manufacturing processes. Formnext is the only format that addresses such a large collection of adopters and potential end-user industries with the aim of spreading the breadth of this technology in manufacturing," explains Sascha Wenzler. Rainer Lotz, President EMEA at Renishaw and Chairman of the Formnext Exhibitor Advisory Board adds: "Formnext creates the right services and formats for every sector. Year after year, innovations in the AM sector and demands from end-user industries are brought together to ensure constant evolution in the direction the industry needs."
Formnext also addresses the very different users of Additive Manufacturing throughout the year with its wide-ranging content from Fon Mag, AM Field Guide, Formnext. TV, various whitepapers etc. while also helping them to find what they are looking for at the trade show.
Constant strong growth in the AM sector has led to the subject of 3D-Printing emerging at a large number of vertical trade shows focusing on one specific end-user sector. "But 3D-Printing is usually just a minor topic at these events, and the solutions presented are of course very specialized," says Wenzler. "On the other hand, anyone who is interested in the breadth of processes or needs a customized solution with multiple manufacturing steps really needs to come to Formnext."
Brand core and process chain
Despite the diverse range of end-user sectors, the brand core of Formnext has remained unchanged over a period of almost 10 years: "This is and remains Additive Manufacturing together with its entire process chain," explains Sascha Wenzler. For example, alongside manufacturers of a wide range of different 3D-printers, Formnext also showcases software and material vendors, service providers and companies active in the fields of post-processing and quality assurance. "This successful approach has proved its worth, and we are continuing to develop it in close consultation with our Advisory Board, the industry and a great many stakeholders based on market requirements."
Mapping the Additive Manufacturing process chain is so important because companies need to do much more than simply buy a 3D-printer for their industrial applications. "They need downstream and upstream process steps that fit in with the type of deployment concerned. And it is this wide-ranging approach that visitors will find at Formnext," explains Dr.-Ing. Markus Heering, Managing Director of the VDMA Working Group Additive Manufacturing and long-time member of the Formnext Advisory Board. This is also reflected in wishes of visitors to Formnext, who are often on the lookout for complete process solutions. Users attending Formnext will not only find the latest technology to suit their needs but also, for example, the required know-how in on-stage events and seminars. Formnext's diverse presentation program showcases the world's latest technologies, applications and developments in industrial 3D-Printing. The renowned Discover3Dprinting seminars are aimed at beginners in 3D-Printing. Wenzler reports: "Together with the year-round content on offer, this helps us to keep reaching new target groups and contacts, which is ultimately one of the most important things our exhibitors want."
International concept
Mesago Messe Frankfurt has taken the added value generated by Formnext's unique concept and transferred it to other continents. The formats are based on the very successful original Formnext in Frankfurt but have been adapted to local conditions in relevant AM markets such as the USA, Japan and China. “We see huge potential in all these countries with companies that have not yet encountered Additive Manufacturing or so far have not utilized the benefits of this fascinating technology. We are deploying our brand formats to leverage this potential," says Petra Haarburger, President of Mesago Messe Frankfurt.
