K2016: bigger than ever; impressive Asian representation

From 19 to 26 October, the international plastics and rubber industry will be meeting at K2016 in Düsseldorf.

“K2016 has been booked out for months. Some 3,100 exhibitors from almost 60 nations will be taking part and showing their products and services on more than 170,000 sq m of net exhibition space,” said Werner M. Dornscheidt, President/CEO of Messe Düsseldorf, the organiser of the show, speaking at a K2016 preview for journalists in Düsseldorf recently.

“Nowhere in the world can one experience the full breadth of raw materials, processing and application equipment as completely as at K in Düsseldorf.”

Again, the strongest contingent of exhibitors comes from Europe, especially from Germany, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, France and Turkey, but there is also an impressive number of participants from the US.

The number of Asian companies and the exhibition space booked by them has increased as well from China, India, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea as well as Malaysia, Singapore Iran and Qatar.

Though the K2016 figures given point to a lower number of Asian exhibitors, compared to K2013, Dornscheidt said that this was a “technical” normality that will be corrected by October when group pavilions provide the updated list of exhibitors. He also added that the space taken up is the close to the K2013 show.

Meanwhile, same as previous years, international machine and equipment manufacturers, will make up K’s largest group of exhibitors, occupying about two thirds of the exhibition grounds, in halls 1 to 4 and halls 9 to 17.

With the 2013 show having 218,000 visitors from more than 100 countries, the organisers expect similar numbers this year. More than half (59%) came from abroad, with the largest groups of international visitors coming from the Netherlands, India, France, Belgium, the US, Italy and the UK.

Rubber also plays an important role here, with the Rubber Road in hall 6 as a permanent fixture at K, and 12 companies will be participating in this “shop window” of the rubber sector.

Other special shows include the Science Campus, Bioplastics Business Breakfasts, the Design Chain Conference, 3D fab+print and the plastics training initiative focus on specific aspects and industry-related issues.

Smart online services include the web portal www.k-online.com, in particular, will be keeping everyone up-to-date before, during and after the fair. This service provides visitors with MyOrganizer, MyCalendar for scheduling meetings and appointments online, and MyCatalogue for compiling an individual trade fair catalogue, the K portal helps visitors to prepare for the fair.

Visitors can also purchase their tickets online, download the associated codes or print them out at home. The main benefit of eTickets is that they cost less. Day tickets will be available online for EUR49, compared to EUR65 (at the gate). Three-day tickets cost EUR108 online, and EUR135 at the gate. For travel to the exhibition centre, the online ticket also doubles as a local public transport ticket.