Final report 2012

COMPOSITES EUROPE 2012 continues to grow

• 8,040 visitors, 426 exhibitors
• Composites industry developing into key industry
• VDMA expects 17 % growth in CFRP production

COMPOSITES EUROPE 2012 demonstrated how successfully and efficiently the composites sector is working today. This year's trade fair which was held in Düsseldorf for the first time, from 9 to 11 October, focussed on the topics of automation and mass production. 8,040 visitors (previous event in 2011: 7,080) and 426 exhibitors (previous event 351) resulted in new records for COMPOSITES EUROPE for its seventh edition.

From leading manufacturers and processors of composite materials to research organisations and all the way through to major networks such as Carbon Composites or - for the first time - CFK Valley Stade the industry's key players were present in Düsseldorf and demonstrated: more and more, the composites industry is developing into a key industry.

Composites market in Germany continues to grow in 2012

In spite of the growth in global demand, the European composites market currently presents a varied picture. The development of the market for glass fibre reinforced plastics (GFRP) in Europe follows overall economic development rather closely. This is shown by the latest market report presented by the German industry association AVK - Industrievereinigung Verstärkte Kunststoffe e.V. in Düsseldorf during its International Conference on the eve of COMPOSITES EUROPE. The most pronounced growth in GFRP production in Europe in 2012 is to be found in Germany, in the United Kingdom as well as in some countries in Eastern Europe. "Compared to other important sales and application markets for composites, Germany is recording good growth figures this year", says AVK Managing Director Dr. Elmar Witten.

Good prospects for CFP: annual grow of 17 % expected

Far better are the prospects for carbon-reinforced plastics which, however, currently still only account for about 1-2% of the entire composites market. The global production volume of high-strength CFP parts will grow by 17 percent per year until 2020. At the same time, production costs will probably decrease by 30 %. These are the findings of the current study "Series production of high-strength fibre composite components - Prospects for German engineering", compiled by the VDMA Forum Composite Technology and Roland Berger Strategy Consultants and presented at COMPOSITES EUROPE.

One in three exhibitors comes from the mechanical engineering sector / VDMA is institutional patron

This year, the VDMA Forum Composite Technology has become the new institutional patron of COMPOSITES EUROPE which, since its premiere six years ago, has also been supported by the European industry association EUCIA and by AVK - Industrievereinigung Verstärkte Kunststoffe e.V. "So as to demonstrate the strength of the German mechanical and plant engineering sector as a technology supplier, we have quite specifically chosen COMPOSITES EUROPE as our presentation platform. As the new partner of the trade fair, the VDMA Forum Composites is very satisfied. Visitor quality at COMPOSITES EUROPE was excellent", said Dr. Walter Begemann, Project Manager of the VDMA Forum Composite Technology,

One highlight in the trade fair's lecture programme was the VDMA Experts Forum: under the heading "Process stages towards mass production", the VDMA Forum Composite Technology Forum chaired presentations on the topic of "automation".

Altogether, the mechanical and plant engineering sector was represented with more than 150 exhibitors at this year's trade fair. In addition, the leading composites manufacturers and processors as well as a large number of research organisations presented examples of innovative applications from the automotive construction, aviation and building and construction sectors.

"COMPOSITES EUROPE has acquired a distinctive profile as an innovation show of one of the most important industries of the future", says Hans-Joachim Erbel, CEO with trade fair organiser Reed Exhibitions Deutschland GmbH. EuCIA President Volker Fritz was also satisfied: "COMPOSITES EUROPE is a big success story. Moving the trade fair to Düsseldorf really hit the mark."

Industry is optimistic

The visitors of COMPOSITES EUROPE came from the manufacturing, processing and applications sectors. Among the users of composites, designers from the automotive sector were the largest group, followed by the aviation sector. When interviewed during the trade fair by a market research organisation on the economic prospects, a majority of trade fair visitors were optimistic about the industry's economic development prospects: 66 percent of visitors interviewed expect the economic situation to recover in the medium term. The transport sector continues to be an important growth driver for the composites market. Especially for the large-scale introduction of electrically powered cars, composites continue to be indispensible.

The next COMPOSITES EUROPE will take place from 17 to 19 September 2013 in Stuttgart. At the same time, the new HYBRID Expo trade fair will celebrate its premiere at the Stuttgart Exhibition Centre. With this trade fair for hybrid materials, organiser Reed Exhibitions further expands its portfolio of materials and lightweight construction trade fairs.

www.hybrid-expo.com

Note:
The visitor, exhibitor and exhibition space figures for this trade fair have been recorded and certified in accordance with the uniform definitions of the German Society for the Voluntary Control of Trade Fair and Exhibition Statistics FKM.

Partners' and exhibitors' comments

"COMPOSITES EUROPE is a big success story. Moving the trade fair to Düsseldorf really hit the mark."
Volker Fritz, EuCIA President

"Compared to other important sales and application markets for composites, Germany is recording good growth figures this year."
Dr. Elmar Witten, Managing Director, AVK

"So as to demonstrate the strength of the German mechanical and plant engineering sector as a technology supplier, we have quite specifically chosen COMPOSITES EUROPE as our presentation platform. As the new partner of the trade fair, the VDMA Forum Composites is very satisfied. Visitor quality at COMPOSITES EUROPE was excellent. Especially the accompanying presentation programme at the Composites Forum was very well received. We could generate a large number of contacts there."

Dr. Walter Begemann, Project Manager, Forum Composite Technology, VDMA

"High visitor quality, good organisation - we are very satisfied with our first presentation at COMPOSITES EUROPE. For our member companies, the trade fair was also a great success."
Patrick Markert, Head of Main Office, CFK- Valley Stade e.V.

"All the important customers - primarily from the automotive sector - came to see us at our stand. Discussions at COMPOSITES EUROPE 2012 went very well. We can see that the trend towards lightweight construction is continuing. We therefore feel we are well positioned for the future with our fibre-reinforced plastics technology."
Hans-Joachim Schwindenhammer, Sales Director, DIEFFENBACHER GmbH

"We have been exhibitors at COMPOSITES Europe for the past seven years and have grown as the trade fair grew. Now we are happy that the fair moved to Düsseldorf. That makes a generous hall layout possible. We are satisfied with the contacts at our stand. And we look forward to Stuttgart 2013!"
Roswita Bongard, PULTEX Kunststofftechnikhandel GmbH

"COMPOSITES EUROPE 2012 provides a good platform for high-quality contacts. Visitor quality is improving every year. The good organisation and continuous development of the trade fair concept make this trade fair "the" composites fair in Europe. The industry itself will have to place of stronger focus on the recyclability of raw materials in the near future to enable the application of composites to become established with many types and varieties and in a wide range of industries."
Klaus-Peter Welsch, Head of Sales and IT, Geiss AG

"At COMPOSITES EUROPE 2012 we met the right contacts and received a large number of direct project inquiries. Among the visitors to our stand were Boeing, Swarovski, Netsch, AMG, Hörmann and Ferrari. In our view, the development of the composites industry shows an upward trend. The development of new processes and further automation are important topics at present. The sector will establish itself as a permanent industry."
Max Hacker, Proprietor, BR Composites

"COMPOSITES EUROPE records a large number of trade visitors and industry insiders. The trade fair was a complete success for us this year. We made valuable and reliable contacts here. The presentation of our company here will therefore continue to be a must in the years to come."
Christian Gemperlein, Managing Director, all ahead composites GmbH

"We met all the people expected but also some new prospective customer. We wll expose at COMPOSITES EUROPE 2013 in Stuttgart."
M. Toschi, Delta-Tech SpA

"At COMPOSITES EUROPPE the contacts have been at high level. We are very happy to be inside the Italian Pavillon."
Federico Collazuol, Carùs

"I am very satisfied for the contacts and the quality of the audience and visitors."
Paolo Toselli, CEO of Plastic Glass and Vice President of Assocompositi

"The COMPOSITES EUROPE was a vey positive experience. We already know it is a good exhibition and we will be at the next show 2013 in Stuttgart."
Ezio Marastoni, Elantas Camattini