Starting next year, a new exhibition is set to showcase the potential of advanced technologies in helping firms ramp-up their polymer-based production.
Named Plastics Live, the now-annual B2B event will be dedicated to all those who manufacture polymeric products, and co-host an ‘AMPLAS’ exhibit devoted to exploring 3D printing’s latest trends. As well as featuring workshops, conferences and exhibitions, the new conference also aims to tackle thorny issues such as plastic sustainability, when it launches in Coventry, UK, from July 5-6 2022.
“We now feel that it’s time to move forward and to put the best of the plastics sector on show,” said Scott Colman, Director of Plastics Live. “We want to properly illustrate all of the positive things that the industry is capable of, and — above all — to communicate how plastics can be a unique and indispensable benefit both for our environment and for our global society.”
“Plastics Live is for forward-thinking plastic manufacturers who are focused and committed to their future viability and profitability.”
A grand polymeric showcase
Set up by and for polymer industry professionals, Plastics Live is designed to curate and promote the best that the sector has to offer. According to the show’s organizers, the industry has been “much beleaguered” in recent years, but has also helped secure vital supply chains against COVID-19, making now the ideal time to publicize its potential.
Across the event, attendees will find out more about the latest on injection molding, extrusion and thermoforming, alongside updates on related materials, peripherals and automation solutions. Rather than offering entry to the general public, Plastics Live is being held exclusively as an industry-only trade show, with manufacturers, material processors and their sales and marketing teams invited to attend.
In addition to hosting more than 500 industry leaders and exhibits from over 150 suppliers, the event will also feature a robust conference program, with speakers covering key issues like future-proofing, optimizing output and saving energy, as well as a ‘Sustainable Plastics Live’ segment, dedicated to addressing the eco-friendliness issues that have publicly dogged the sector over the last five years.
“We’re delighted to be working alongside Plastics Live to promote this new, unique event in the plastics industry,” explains Carl Futcher, MD of the event’s headline media partner PlastikMedia. “PlastikCity and PlastikMedia are very future-focused, and our ethos is all about promoting the best in the industry, so our partnership with Plastics Live is a great fit.”
“I feel that the format brings something entirely new to the industry, particularly as it highlights the key topics and technologies that are becoming very significant to our manufacturers.”
AMPLAS and Industry 4.0
In terms of 3D printing, the technology’s current issues, trends and advances will be exhibited and explored under Plastic Live’s AMPLAS banner. With additive manufacturing increasingly demonstrating the ability to produce small-to-mid-sized batches of end-use parts, the event segment is set to examine how injection molding can be complementary to the technology’s applications, and vice-versa.
Visitors from the aerospace, automotive, defense and medical sectors are all expected to attend, and the show’s organizers are now taking exhibitor applications. Similarly, Plastics Live is also appealing for speakers to come forward, particularly those with expertise in digitized inventory, in-process monitoring, material innovation or post-processing.
Alongside AMPLAS, Plastics Live is set to host a section called ‘Industry 4.0 in Plastics’ as well, in which exhibitors will demonstrate how connected operations are revolutionizing the factory floor. Attendees therefore stand to see first-hand how process transparency can help deliver optimized product quality, reduced costs and on-time client order delivery.
“Plastics Live is all about innovation and is heavily future-focused,” concluded Colman. “Those businesses who prefer to stand still will not be comfortable with our format. Those leaning forward will benefit and prosper from getting involved.”
Scheduled to take place at the Coventry Building Society Arena (formerly the Ricoh Arena) from July 5-6 2022, Plastics Live is now accepting registrations from representatives intending to visit. Those interested in attending can apply via the event website.
AM’s post-pandemic events
Over the last year, the 3D printing community has largely been unable to meet in-person due to the restrictions introduced to curb COVID-19, but as these are being lifted, live events are now back on the agenda. The industry’s biggest event, Formnext, was forced to take place in a fully-digital format last year in the shape of Formnext Connect, however in-person elements are set to return for 2021.
The event’s organizers, Mesago Messe Frankfurt, are also going all-out to ensure that those applying to its Start-Up Challenge have the best possible chance to enter. Set to be judged by 3D Printing Industry’s own Editor-in-Chief Michael Petch, the competition’s deadline has now been extended from July 2 to July 16 2021.
Likewise, the annual Additive Manufacturing Users Group (AMUG) Conference exceeded expectations when it took place in Orlando back in May 2021. With around 100 exhibitors and more than 800 attendees, the event was one of the first major in-person 3D printing events to be held since the COVID-19 lockdowns of early 2020.
The nominations for the 2021 3D Printing Industry Awards are now open. Who do you think should make the shortlists for this year’s show? Have your say now.
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Featured image shows the exhibition floor at the 2021 NPE Orlando plastics conference. Photo via Recycling Today.
