Collect points in Nuremberg’s home game

The time has come in just under two weeks. The POWTECH TECHNOPHARM team will have the opportunity to meet many of its exhibitors directly in Nuremberg. This is because FACHPACK opens on 24 September. The synergies between the two trade fairs are huge. Exhibitors and visitors will particularly benefit from this again in 2025, when both trade fairs will fill the Nuremberg exhibition halls at the same time.

Written by Dr. Ulla Reutner

Two men are talking in an exhibition area at a trade fair. They are standing at a machine, both holding a white bottle with an orange cap and purple label. — Filling technology – an exhibit at the interface between POWTECH TECHNOPHARM and FACHPACK. In 2024, the packaging trade fair will attract numerous visitors to Nuremberg, followed by both trade fairs in 2025.

Home game in Nuremberg. This is not only a highlight for the “Clubberer”, the fans of 1. FC Nürnberg. It also inspires the POWTECH TECHNOPHARM trade fair team when it comes to collecting points at home. The time has come from 24 to 26 September 2024. The sister trade fair FACHPACK will take place at the Nuremberg Exhibition Centre.

Marianny Eisenhofer, Director POWTECH TECHNOPHARM, is delighted: “Although it won’t be our turn again until 2025, we will already be visiting numerous exhibitors at FACHPACK who took part in POWTECH last year. And, of course, also those who will be there for the first time in 2025, for example because the new TECHNOPHARM section is particularly relevant for them.” Next year, the two trade fairs will take place at the same time, as they will in 2022. For the “double exhibitors 2025”, it is important to fulfil their expectations for the ideal placement. Eisenhofer believes it is even more important to discover new opportunities together at the 2025 trade fair. This is because it is not uncommon for a trade fair presence to be expanded: from one part of the portfolio, for example for the packaging sector or a specific industry, to other offerings, for example for processing or other sectors such as the pharmaceutical industry.

Numerous people with bags, dressed in outdoor jackets, walk through the glass doors at an entrance to an exhibition centre. Above them hang signs and logos for the FACHPACK and POWTECH trade fairs. — POWTECH and FACHPACK were held simultaneously at the Nuremberg Exhibition Centre in 2022 - a successful model.

2022: Successful trial run of the double trade fair comprising POWTECH and FACHPACK

The trade fair team will also be able to meet up with one or two visitors. In 2022, a good third of trade visitors and exhibitors at POWTECH also came to FACHPACK for information. Conversely, just under a quarter of FACHPACK visitors visited POWTECH. “Anyone who wants to talk to us is welcome to do so,” says Marianny Eisenhofer and asks that they contact the trade fair team if they do.

In 2025, the multi-sector character of the two trade fairs will pay off in particular – especially for companies that want to address several sectors. Phuong Anh Do, FACHPACK Deputy Director, knows: “We have the biggest overlaps in the target group in the food, feed, chemical and pharmaceutical sectors, as well as in mechanical engineering.” FACHPACK has long covered the filling process as an upstream process, while this is also playing an increasingly important role at POWTECH TECHNOPHARM as the final process step.

Seamless networking of processing and packaging

Only by integrating the process steps within the value chain is it possible to fully exploit the potential offered by digitalisation and networking in the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). Consequently, companies that are working on increasing OEE (Overall Equipment Efficiency) are increasingly overcoming compartmentalised thinking. Their decision-makers are therefore equally interested in innovations in the areas of processing and packaging. You will find the perfect conditions for this at the double trade fair 2025. A number of machine and plant manufacturers are also active in both technology areas – processing and packaging. Seamless processes are particularly in demand in the pharmaceutical and food industries.

Phuong Anh Do still vividly remembers 2022, the year in which the synergies between the two trade fairs were tested for the first time. The lively exchange across the “exhibition boundaries”, the lively networking, convinced those responsible at NürnbergMesse. FACHPACK is moving further in the direction of smart production with the main theme of Transition in Packaging. Transition in Processing is also a trend that is moving the process engineering world in times of digitalisation.

2025: Hands-on mentality and open exchange characterise both trade fairs

But it’s not just the overlap in content that makes FACHPACK and POWTECH TECHNOPHARM work so well together. The FACHPACK manager explains: “Both trade fairs are characterised by a hands-on mentality. The open dialogue between the experts quickly turns challenges into concrete solutions. Problems are tackled together – and this will be even more exciting in the double pack of the two trade fairs in 2025.”

In 2024, the “class reunion of the packaging industry” will take place without the support of POWTECH TECHNOPHARM. However, some exhibitors who previously focussed on POWTECH will present at least part of their portfolio at FACHPACK this time. FACHPACK 2024 also has a lot to offer long-time POWTECH visitors who were able to experience FACHPACK in 2022.

At the PACKBOX Forum, visitors to FACHPACK - and POWTECH TECHNOPHARM in 2025 - will receive first-hand information from experts. Conversely, FACHPACK visitors in 2025 will benefit from the stage talks and forums at POWTECH TECHNOPHARM.

PACKBOX, INNOVATIONBOX and networking events provide impetus

In addition to technical innovations from the exhibitors, there will be plenty of first-hand knowledge to pick up: for example, in the sessions of the PACKBOX expert forum, which will shed light on the future of mechanical engineering as well as the potential of digitalisation and AI or the importance of chemical recycling in the circular economy. Exhibitors will also be presenting their innovations in the INNOVATIONBOX, including topics such as material feeding, intelligent knowledge management and X-ray detection. A new feature – and certainly a highlight for many visitors from the POWTECH TECHNOPHARM community – is the Women4Packaging networking event on 24 September 2024 in the NCC-Mitte, where experts from the packaging sector can make and intensify contacts.

Positive half-time results for POWTECH TECHNOPHARM

With 1450 exhibitors, the FACHPACK trade fair team has achieved its goals for 2024. They will probably be even more ambitious for 2025. This also applies to POWTECH TECHNOPHARM. “In August, more than a year before the next trade fair, we already exceeded the 45 per cent mark of the planned exhibitor numbers,” reports Marianny Eisenhofer. The concept and the new hall layout have been well received. The team works with each exhibitor to find the best possible placement. “The new Hall 11 that we are occupying is already almost fully booked.”

Eisenhofer has noticed that a number of exhibitors who previously focussed on the food industry are expanding their presence: “They benefit from the multi-sector character and will also be able to show what they have to offer the pharmaceutical and biotech industries in future. The 2025 trade fair date is ideal for those who cover sensitive processes with turnkey solutions.” Marianny Eisenhofer also welcomes the fact that, in addition to the PARTEC Congress, the VDMA will once again be taking part with a special show in 2025, for which VDMA members can already register. This will not only enhance POWTECH TECHNOPHARM as a working trade fair and networking platform. Visitors to FACHPACK will also be very welcome.

Author

Dr. Ulla Reutner

Chemist and freelance specialised journalist