After the excellent results of the past edition, the Plast (the International exhibition for plastics and rubber industries) organizing secretariat announces the next three-year appointment for the event, which will take place from Tuesday, May 4 to Friday, May 7, 2021 at the Fiera Milano Rho-Pero fairgrounds, again together with The Innovation Alliance.

“The broad approval expressed by exhibitors and visitors alike for the formula piloted in 2018”, stated Alessandro Grassi, president of Amaplast and of the management company Promaplast, organizer of Plast, “has more than convinced us to renew the agreement with the organizing committees of the other four fairs taking part in the innovative tradeshow format (Ipack-Ima, Meat-Tech, Print4All, Intralogistica Italia)”.

Plast 2018 closed its doors on a positive trend, with over 1,500 exhibitors in 55,000 square metres of exhibition space drawing in more than 63,000 visitors. There was also a significant increase in foreign representation, partly thanks to over 30 official delegations welcomed to the specialized fair, which thus reaffirms its international stature and draw.

There was a rich showcase of technology presented to the operators, especially as regards the core of the exhibition: machinery, equipment and moulds for processing plastics and rubber, with over 3,500 units on display in the 6 exhibition halls. This is an important sector in Italian manufacturing, with a production value estimated by the trade association Amaplast at 4.7 billion euros in 2018, approximately 70% going to exports.

With the renewal of the agreement on The Innovation Alliance and the choice of dates - determined taking into account the busy calendar of international tradeshows for the capital machinery industry and the availability of the Fiera Milano fairgrounds - the Plast organizing secretariat is revving its engines in view of the next edition, so that it can again propose to the plastics and rubber industry an exhaustive survey of innovative technologies, materials, processes and products, conferences and seminars, art, and opportunities for professionals in the sector to meet and exchange ideas. Registration begins in November 2019.

The unique project to be back in fiera milano in 2021

After the important results recorded in its debut in 2018 - 150,110 attendees from the various sectors of the manufacturing industry, 27% foreigners - The Innovation

Alliance will take place once again at Fiera Milano from Tuesday May 4 to Friday

May 7, 2021, thus confirming a supply chain logic and the simultaneous holding of five events focused on instrumental mechanics: Plast, Ipack-Ima, Meat-Tech, Print4All and

Intralogistica Italia.

The figures aimed for the next edition are significant: 5 exhibitions on 17 pavilions, practically the entire exhibition area of the Fiera Milano district, to propose an ideal industrial chain. A formula designed for a professional visitor, who will be able to evaluate at the same time technologies that can be applied in different contexts, thus developing cross fertilization of skills and taking advantage of virtuous contaminations.

"The Innovation Alliance formula has proved to be a winning approach, which could be an inspiration for other events. Combining five leading industrial events increases the international attractiveness and promotes competitiveness in the global market”, says Fabrizio Curci, CEO of Fiera Milano. "Moreover, Fiera Milano, with its exhibition spaces and services, together with Milan, today perceived as a dynamic European metropolis, make the event unique”.

An offer that will bring together the best of machines for the manufacturing industry, different applications ranging from the engineering of rubber and plastic to food processing technologies, from food and non-food packaging to custom graphic printing, right down to product handling and warehousing. These machines manage different phases of the industrial production process, sharing a high level of innovation and large investments in research and development, especially considering of the great changes that are involving each segment.

Smart manufacturing, advanced automation, robotics, artificial intelligence, Industry 4.0 are literally transforming the industrial world, requesting innovative systems and processes, and also a specific training to enhance and strengthen the professional skills.

In this context of great change, interaction between similar sectors that often interact with business logic, becomes an added value. This is the shared strategic goal that brought all the partners involved - Fiera Milano, Deutsche Messe and Acimga (Italian Manufacturers Association of Machinery for the Graphic, Converting and Paper Industry), Amaplast (Italian Plastics and Rubber Processing Machinery and Moulds Manufacturers’ Association), Ucima (Italian Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Association) and Argi (Italian Association of Graphic Design Suppliers) associations - to renew the collaboration and re-propose an event with a great international appeal, to enhance the design and production capacity of the made in Italy industrial offer worldwide appreciated (the average export is about 80%) but also the best of the international production for the manufacturing industry.