Formnext reports on supporting industry with evolving formats and services

Mesago Messe Frankfurt GmbH, organiser of Formnext 2024, has shared that, almost ten years after the premiere of the event, its offering continues to be tailored to the changing needs of the global Additive Manufacturing community. While many exhibitors presented ambitious additively manufactured concepts at the first Formnext in 2015, it was stated that 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,” explained Sascha F Wenzler, Vice President for Formnext at Mesago Messe Frankfurt.

Increasingly, Additive Manufacturing is competing with other manufacturing technologies, and real-life business cases are often important — even decisive — factors when it comes to choosing a solution. That impacts the requirements exhibitors place on Formnext. Wenzler added, “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 especially important as AM grows, because the technology is penetrating a broader range of industries. Today, Additive Manufacturing machines can be found in dental laboratories, on construction sites, production parts for machinery and aircraft, and on oil rigs.

“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,” explained Wenzler.

Rainer Lotz, President EMEA at Renishaw and Formnext Exhibitor Advisory Board Chairman added, “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.”

“Constant strong growth in the AM sector has led to the subject of Additive Manufacturing 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 specialised,” stated Wenzler. “On the other hand, anyone who is interested in the breadth of processes or needs a customised solution with multiple manufacturing steps really needs to come to Formnext.”

Despite the diversifying range of end-user sectors, the brand core of Formnext has remained unchanged over the almost decade since its inception. The event is intended to represent the Additive Manufacturing technology as well its entire process chain. For example, alongside manufacturers of a wide range of different AM machines, 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,” stated Wenzler.

Mapping the Additive Manufacturing process chain is important because companies need to do more than buy an AM machine 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,” explained Dr-Ing Markus Heering, Managing Director of the VDMA Working Group Additive Manufacturing and long-time member of the Formnext Advisory Board.

Welcoming new users

Users attending Formnext will not only find the latest technology to suit their needs but also the required know-how in on-stage events and seminars. Formnext’s diverse presentation programme showcases the world’s latest technologies, applications and developments in industrial Additive Manufacturing. Wenzler shared, “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.”

Mesago Messe Frankfurt has taken the added value generated by Formnext’s 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 utilised the benefits of this fascinating technology. We are deploying our brand formats to leverage this potential,” said Petra Haarburger, President of Mesago Messe Frankfurt.

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