“Ceramitec 2018 was a great success”, says Gerhard Gerritzen, Member of the Board of Management of Messe München. “I am particularly pleased with the fact that the positive trend indicated by the Ceramitec industry barometer, a survey we conducted among industry representatives during the run-up to the trade show to learn more about their investment behaviour, has been confirmed at the event. The exhibitors could transact good business deals, had high-quality visitors at their booths and established a great number of new contacts.” Thus, the event has proven its reputation as an international key trade show once again. “And all this even though the conditions were slightly difficult – apart from this year’s unusually packed trade show calendar, we had a strike at Munich Airport on the opening day”, adds Gerhard Gerritzen.
After a few rather challenging years, the industry looked ahead with optimism at Ceramitec 2018. Accordingly, the future-oriented topics of digitalization and Industry 4.0 determined the professional exchange at the trade show. “The dominating topic in the field of ceramics is digitalization. This is all about highly automated processes facilitating efficient manufacturing for customer-specific solutions”, explains Dr. Jürgen Blumm, Chairman of the Ceramitec Advisory Board & Managing Director of Netzsch Gerätebau GmbH. The importance of Ceramitec even increases in view of these developments: “Particularly in times of digitalization, meeting people personally at trade shows is more important than ever before to define the right interfaces between suppliers and customers. The information density here is higher than anywhere else”, says Joachim Heym, Managing Director of Schunk Ingenieurkeramik GmbH.
The newly launched Additive Manufacturing special show featuring both an exhibition of innovative products and a separate lecture programme on issues revolving around ceramics and additive manufacturing was also geared towards the future. The focus on new manufacturing processes was very well received at the trade show.
Boasting over 15,000 participants, the event was also once again very well received from the quantitative viewpoint. In this context, Ceramitec asserted its position as the international meeting point for the ceramics industry. Accordingly, the 633 exhibitors came from 38 countries. After Germany, the countries with the greatest appearance were Italy, China, France, Spain and Portugal. On the visitors’ side, as well, the proportion of international guests, which amounted to around 60 %, was higher than average again. Most of the international visitors came from countries like Italy, Austria, France, Turkey, China and Russia. The international diversity contributed to the exhibitors’ satisfaction.
However, such an international industry is also influenced by political and economic framework conditions. Therefore, the effects of the different international conflicts and protectionist tendencies were the subject of intensive discussions at the trade show: “Especially the areas of mechanical engineering and plant construction in the ceramics segment are very international in their orientation and would therefore be affected by possible trade barriers”, summarizes Dr. Jürgen Blumm.
Ceramitec was accompanied by a comprehensive conference programme. During various information days (Powder Metallurgy Day, Heavy Clay Day, Technical Ceramics Day, CareerDay), visitors could gather information on current developments and issues at a variety of lectures and discussion panels.
Simultaneously with Ceramitec, the 93rd Annual Meeting of the German Ceramic Society DKG & Symposium on High-Performance Ceramics by DKG and DGM, and the General Meeting of the Association of the German Ceramic Industry VKI took place on the exhibition grounds. Thus, the entire national and international ceramics scene had gathered in Munich. This special constellation had a high added value for all participants. Whereas the DKG lecture programme primarily dealt with scientifically orientated subjects, the Ceramitec conference programme mainly offered solutions for the challenges of today.
The next Ceramitec will take place in Munich from 16–19 November 2021. For further information please visit: www.ceramitec.com