WTH-Team Returns from Fakuma Trade Fair
(mud) – The Fakuma trade fair for plastics processing in Friedrichshafen has become more international with an increase in foreign participants. “This isn’t a problem for us,” says WTH CEO Gero Thieme. “We possess considerable expertise in balancing the diverse expectations of Asian manufacturers and European processors.” WTH’s trade fair experts Dr. Silke Nicola Trzaska, Cutian Wolf-Jusuf, and Dieter Holst returned with a wealth of impressive experiences and crucial insights.
Of the 1,639 exhibitors at the 29th Fakuma, held across twelve halls, 778 came from abroad, making up 47.5% of the total—an increase of three and a half percent over the previous year. “We immediately noticed that many participants were from China,” remarked WTH team members Silke Nicola Trzaska and Dieter Holst. In fact, among foreign exhibitors, Chinese companies had the strongest presence with 170 firms, followed by 142 from Italy and 81 from Switzerland.
Top priorities for the participants included improving efficiency, process stability, reproducibility, and minimizing setup times. It was apparent that they were focused on optimizing every possible variable through technical and organizational measures, as well as through investments, to maintain competitiveness. The clear objective: to produce more economically.
A significant insight for the WTH team: “The trade fair business is getting tougher. Fewer decision-making project developers attend in person; instead, they send colleagues with research tasks,” observes Dr. Trzaska. She adds, “In the future, we will need to focus more on other sales channels, such as online platforms.”
An important roundtable discussion at the fair concluded that digitalization is a necessity—it’s a tool to enhance effectiveness, and from effectiveness comes greater efficiency. Dieter Holst agrees and notes enthusiastically, “WTH has developed a solid digital routine for trade fair participation. Our use of IT resources has been enhanced effectively, making both our products and business activities clear and self-explanatory for visitors.”
Still, Holst believes that in the trade fair business, “Direct communication with people remains crucial. Personal contact and getting to know each other counts for something. Also, continuity pays off and helps to strengthen business relationships.”
“As for visitors, they are primarily from the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland), coming to maintain contacts, including both existing customers and new prospects,” observed WTH trade fair expert Cutian Wolf-Jusuf in Friedrichshafen. She also believes, “Looking ahead, it’s likely that visitor numbers at trade fairs will decline, and business contacts at industry seminars will gain greater resonance and significance. Trade fairs are becoming more digital, but maintaining corporate relationships remains important.” For Cutian Wolf-Jusuf, it’s particularly crucial now “that trade fair contacts are followed up quickly and precisely.”