Mesago Messe Frankfurt GmbH, the organiser of Formnext, reports that it is receiving high registration figures for this year’s event, scheduled to take place in Frankfurt, Germany, November 10–13. Seen as a positive sign for the entire industry, the organiser believes that the event is sending an optimistic signal for the sustained and further development of Additive Manufacturing and modern industrial production, despite economical uncertainty caused by the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19).

“Due to the coronavirus, the world is facing an unprecedented crisis,” stated Sascha F Wenzler, Vice President of Formnext, Mesago Messe Frankfurt GmbH. “In these testing times, however, in addition to concern for family, employees and economic stability, the AM industry in particular is demonstrating strength and solidarity in the fight against the coronavirus.”

“AM enables the short-run and location-independent production of medical devices, equipment, and spare parts. In fact, the industry is showing tremendous spirit in terms of design, the free sharing of print data, and also in production itself.”

The organiser states that 559 exhibitors have registered so far (as of April 2), and the figures show that interest remains the same as previous year levels despite the challenging times, indicating the importance of innovative manufacturing solutions based on industrial Additive Manufacturing as a forward-looking and sustainable business sector with good prospects for accelerating the recovery following the present crisis.

Wenzler added, “We are all counting on the situation to improve over the summer, making Formnext one of the first opportunities for the world of Additive Manufacturing to come together and exchange ideas in person again.”

Taking place in Frankfurt am Main, Formnext 2020, will showcase the latest innovations from international companies such as 3D Systems, Additive Industries, AddUp, Arburg, BigRep, Carbon, Desktop Metal, DMG Mori, Envisiontec, EOS, Farsoon, Formlabs, GE Additive, HP, Markforged, Materialise, Renishaw, Sisma, SLM Solutions, Stratasys, Trumpf, Voxeljet, Xerox, XJet, and more.

The entire modern industrial process chain, from design through materials, software, and post-processing will be fully represented by material suppliers like BASF, Evonik, H.C. Starck, Höganäs, Mitsubishi Chemical, and Sandvik who will be premiering their latest products, alongside companies in the fields of software, services, and postprocessing, including AM Solutions, Autodesk, Dassault, FIT, GKN Additive, Henkel, Nikon, Otto Fuchs, Postprocess, SMS Group, Zeiss, and more.

Additionally, in 2020, China will become the second partner country for Formnext (following the USA last year), with its own delegations and special accompanying programme. Formnext 2020 will also reportedly see the continuation and expansion of previous popular events, including the special show additive4industry and the joint booth of AG AM in VDMA e.V., the internationally acclaimed Start-Up Challenge, the ideas competition purmundus challenge, the AM4U platform with numerous lectures and career opportunities, and the BE-AM Symposium, which focuses on additive activities in the construction industry. This year, the latest trends and developments in Additive Manufacturing will also be presented and discussed at the conference organised by content partner TCT.

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