The Exhibitors’ Council meeting doubled as the kick-off meeting for K 2016, which will be held from 19 to 26 October, 2016 in Düsseldorf, Germany. The panel discussed plans concerning the upcoming industry show. The Exhibitors’ Council assists the show’s orgainiser, Messe Düsseldorf with its preparations in the run-up to K 2016 and provides consultancy on basic conceptual and organisatorial matters. Comprised of representatives from exhibiting industrial segments and from important industrial associations, the council covers the entire range of products and services to be presented at K 2016, including machine and plant engineering; plastics and rubber raw material and auxiliary production; as well as the production of semi-finished products and industrial components made from plastics and rubber.

Ulrich Reifenhäuser, Chairman of the Management Board of the Reifenhäuser Group and Chairman of the VDMA plastics and rubber machinery association, will retain his position as Chairman of the Exhibitors’ Council. Dr Rainer Büschl, Innovation & Knowledge Management Performance Materials, BASF SE, was appointed Deputy Chairman; he is also leading the concept committee. Thorsten Kühmann, Director of the VDMA plastics and rubber machinery association, will retain his position as head of the organisation committee.

The Exhibitors’ Council K 2016 Düsseldorf is comprised of the following other members: Michael Baumeister of Brückner Maschinenbau GmbH & Co KG; Dr Rüdiger Baunemann of PlasticsEurope Deutschland eV; Boris Engelhardt of Wirtschaftsverband der Deutschen Kautschukindustrie WdK; Dr Harald Hammer of Borealis AG; Juliane Hehl of Arburg GmbH & Co KG; Ulf Kelterborn of IK - Industrievereinigung Kunststoffverpackungen eV; Jan-Udo Kreyenborg of Kreyenborg Verwaltungs GmbH; Felix M. Loose of AGOR GmbH; Dr Oliver Möllenstädt of GKV – Gesamtverband Kunststoffverarbeitende Industrie eV; Dr Peter Neumann of Engel Austria GmbH; Hans-Peter Neuwald of Bayer MaterialScience AG; Klaus-Uwe Reiß of Mitras Materials GmbH; Peter Steinbeck of Windmöller & Hölscher Maschinenfabrik KG; Pascal Streiff of EUROMAP; and , Michael Träxler of Evonik Industries AG

The tri-annual K trade fair in Düsseldorf presents a unique cross-section of the raw material, processing and application technology industries. A total of 3,219 exhibiting companies and 218,000 specialists attended the last K 2013.

As in previous years, the most important international suppliers and service providers of the plastics and rubber industry will exhibit at the K 2016. Over the next few months, the organisers will define the main topics of the upcoming flagship fair and develop new concepts for presenting them. Invitations will be sent to exhibitors at the beginning of 2015.