Organization in full swing

Plast 2018, the international exhibition for the plastics and rubber industries, will take place at the Fiera Milano facilities in Rho-Pero from May 29 to June 1, 2018.

Plast 2018 will be the preeminent European event this year for the plastics and rubber industry, embracing the whole chain from raw materials to semi-finished and finished products, from machinery and equipment to support services. And, quite rightly, once again this year the fair enjoys the sponsorship of the Italian Ministry of Economic Development.

The international scope of this triennial tradeshow, now in its eighteenth edition, is confirmed by the impressive numbers of foreign exhibitors and visitors.

With three months to go before opening day, a total of 1,100 exhibitors have registered for Plast 2018. Of these, 870 are direct exhibitors (one third of them foreign, representing more than forty countries and growth of 21% in number and 24% in space allocation) and 230 are represented. A total of 52,000 square metres of exhibition space has been assigned.

Plast reflects the preeminent global position of the Italian plastics and rubber processing machinery, equipment and moulds industry, which forms the core of the exhibition. Over 70% of national production - which hit a new all-time record value of 4.5 billion euros in 2017 according to figures from the trade association Amaplast, produced by 900 manufacturers employing some 14,000 people - is exported.

Italian technology (as well as that produced in Germany, Italy’s main global competitor in the sector - indeed Germany tops the list in terms of both foreign exhibitors and foreign visitors at Plast) is purchased by converters all over the world who require high-tech capabilities to produce large volumes of quality products with optimal precision.

Plast 2018 thus offers economic operators a full-spectrum technological showcase addressing all the various production processes (from extrusion to blow-moulding, from thermoforming to injection moulding) and applications (packaging, automotive, medical, construction etc.).

Given the excellent performance of Italian exports in the industry and recovery in the domestic market, participants have every right to expect rewarding business opportunities at Plast 2018, with their order books swelling significantly directly at the fair.

Again this year, Plast will feature satellite fairs dedicated to three sub-sectors of excellence: Rubber (in its third edition), 3D Plast (focusing on additive manufacturing and related technologies, now in its second edition) and Plast-Mat (first edition, dedicated to innovative plastics).

A jam-packed schedule of technical seminars and company meetings is in the works, providing a full-spectrum view of the latest in materials, processes, machinery and services. These conferences, combined with the breadth of the exhibits, will draw in not only professionals working in the field but also young people seeking a place in the job market. As happens at every Plast, school groups, most of them from technical high schools, will be among the crowds in the exhibition halls, getting a first-hand experience of the materials and technologies in the plastics and rubber industry.

But that’s not all. In keeping with tradition, the Art & Plastics area of PLAST 2018 will feature a splash of colour, with artists exhibiting works they have created using plastic, providing a further demonstration of the versatility of this material.

Some two months after the opening of preregistration, thousands of operators have already registered online to visit PLAST 2018. Large numbers have also preregistered to visit the four fairs within The Innovation Alliance (Ipack-Ima, Meat-Tech, Print4All, Intralogistica Italia), also expressing interest in visiting Plast 2018.

The large number of expected visitors (at least 120,000 in total for the five events) will be joined by official delegations from some forty countries from all corners of the world, coordinated by ICE-Agenzia and composed of carefully selected qualified operators with interests spanning all sectors represented within The Innovation Alliance.

Until March 15, those intending to visit the fair may request a free admission ticket for two

entries to Plast 2018 and to the other exhibitions in The Innovation Alliance (see the “visitors” page at www.plastonline.org).