PETpla.net Insider 12 / 2010

TRADE SHOW REVIEW 28 PET planet insider Vol. 11 No. 12/10 www.petpla.net K2010 Review Visitors and exhibitors in positive mood at K Show 2010 While the K Show 2010, which ran from October 27 to November 3, had fewer visitors than the previous edi- tion, in 2007, the overall attendance gave exhibitors and the organisers grounds for satisfaction and for opti- mism, going forward. Three years ago, the industry was in ‘boom mode’ – but that was before the financial crisis and the global industrial downturn. The exhibitor and delegate attendances this year indicate that the recession is definitely over. Around 220,000 trade visitors, 9% less that in 2007, attended the eight days of the trade fair, which filled all 20 main and sub-halls at the Dusseldorf showground and hosted over 3,100 exhibitors. PETplanet Insider’s staff learned that the visitors were not just looking at exhibits; they were enquiring about and signing papers for real orders. While some manufacturers, after two years of downturn and cancellations, held to the cautious path and were not prepared to count anything as final until deposits were received, there was an undercurrent of guarded optimism. Nearly 60% of the total visitor numbers came from out- side Germany, with nearly half of that from outside Europe. The largest group came from Asia, with approximately 30,000, followed by India, with around 11,000. Turkey and Israel were represented by 4,100 and 3,600, respectively – both figures were up around 50% since 2007. Represen- tation from the Americas remained pretty much static, with 10,500 from Latin America and 6,800 from the USA and Canada. Machinery was the major reason for attendance, followed by raw materials and auxiliaries, semi-finished products, technical plastics and rubber components. After a period in which the PET industry has been pro- moting faster, bigger and more complex machinery, the trend this year is to smaller, more flexible equipment and a continuing emphasis on after-sales service. China is get- ting to be the largest and remains the fastest-growing major market in the world but activity in India, Brazil, SE Asia, North Africa and other developing countries is also accel- erating. Exhibitors from China and India at K’2010 could have populated a reasonable exhibition on their own, with a number of small stands, joint exhibits and national pavilions. However, smaller operators in emerging markets are inter- ested in machinery that is more flexible and more attuned to their needs – which seem to be for smaller runs, or for line expansions that do not require big capital commitment. What is clear from this year’s show is that the manufactur- ers of mould machines, hotrunners and ancillary equipment have picked up on that demand and are intent on serving it. The drive for ever-higher cavitation numbers and ever-faster output may resume in the future but a noticeable theme at K Show 2010 was for smaller machines, which are more affordable but still receive mainstream support and are easier to handle. Single-minute exchange of dies (SMED) was demonstrated as a reality. Modular moulds that can accommodate bottle shape changes without a complete refit were also in evidence. Contaminant detectors and separators S+S Separation and Sorting Technology GmbH’s stand at the K Show featured its range of separation and sorting solutions for the complete life cycle of plastics. The systems comprise metal detectors and separators, magnet systems for all production stages and conveying types in plastics processing, and contaminant separators for plastics recycling. S+S makes two solutions for the protection of high-performance injection moulds for preforms or caps and closures against metal contaminations, which are also intended improve efficiency and productivity. The Protector-XHT is a metal separator for processing temperatures of up to 200ºC. The separator is installed directly at the inlet of the injection-moulding machine or after the drier and inspects all the fed materials at the last-chance control point. The Protector-HR metal separator is designed for high-performance moulds, such as bottle cap equipment with up to 96 cavities. The company says that its systems are ideal for PET flake sorting because their high standard of effectiveness allows use of recycled material in the food segment. www.sesotec.com