CHINAPLAS will be raising the profile of key plastics trends in Guangzhou next year with three concurrent events.
Focusing on the theme of 'Intelligent Manufacturing, High-tech Materials, Green Solutions', CHINAPLAS organiser Adsale Exhibition Services will host a package of sideshows during the event: the second Industry 4.0 Conference, Design x Innovation, and the third Medical Plastics Conference. Visitors can explore cutting-edge technologies and inspiring case studies at these side events, allowing them to hop on the bandwagon and understand market dynamics from multiple dimensions.
WenSe
Design x Innovation
Prime focus: Industry 4.0
China has quickly become the world’s second largest economy, and labour costs have risen sharply. It is no longer a low-wage cost country – all kinds of cost pressures force businesses to opt for more automation equipment and advanced technology in the production processes.
According to Stanley Chu, Chairman, Adsale Exhibition Services, China is still a developing country, and has not yet fulfilled the necessary conditions for industrial 4.0.
“Only a few companies are making use of networking production technologies," he said. "Industry 4.0 is still a vision for many Chinese companies, but an attainable one, and attainable in the foreseeable future, if it is desired that something be done to cope with cost pressures.”
It is to this end that CHINAPLAS 2017 makes Industry 4.0 a top priority.
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Industry 4.0
The second Industry 4.0 Conference, presented with the support from VDMA, the German Engineering Federation, will be held on the afternoon of May 16th, on the morning of May 17th and in the afternoon of May 18th, in Conference Room 1, Level C, Zone B, China Import & Export Fair Complex, Pazhou.
As a “signature dish” dedicated to visitors, the conference will provide practical and operational solutions for enterprises targeting urgent manufacturing upgrade. Industry 4.0 will eventually move towards the direction of customised, small batch production, which is also the characteristics of additive manufacturing technology which meets the demands for the development of more personalised products. This is the long-term goal of Industry 4.0.
At the inaugural Industry 4.0 Conference, Arburg introduced the technology of additive manufacturing, which will be presented again at the sequel in greater depth and breadth. The Industry 4.0 Conference in 2016 not only brought together world-renowned enterprises such as Arburg, KraussMaffei, Engel, Wittmann Battenfeld, Beckhoff, Volkswagen AG, Haier and SAP, but also attracted nearly 600 local and overseas professionals, who were generally satisfied, and looked forward to more case studies of Industry 4.0, which, combined with their own businesses, would promote the intelligentisation of their factories, enhancing production efficiency, improving product quality and achieving lean production status.
"The Industry 4.0 Conference was well received by members of the Association, and the delegates agreed that there was quite some useful details," stated a spokesman for the Anhui Plastics Industry Association. "We realised that Industry 4.0 is not an achievement overnight, but systems engineering of long-term hard work and perseverance in integrating theory and practice."
Furthermore, the Smart Manufacturing Technology Zone, a showcase of cutting-edge automation technologies, will provide a boost to the movement from 'Made in China' to 'Smartly Made in China'.
'Design x Innovation' enlightens the upstream and downstream sectors
Since its inception, 'Design x Innovation' has attracted a lot of attention. As visitors’ needs get more sophisticated, the event itself gets more vibrant – 'Innovation Gallery', 'Open Forum', 'Meet the Designers' are the programs which introduce success stories of innovative industrial designs to visitors, who gain inspirations on application of new materials and at the same time discuss and exchange solutions face-to-face, further creating value.
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Design x Innovation
At the 'Design x Innovation' event in 2016, the 'Innovation Gallery' showcased a wide range of creative products for use in everyday life, for example, in the stadium, and at transportation hubs, among which the e-floater received great attention. This solar-powered electric scooter could help solve the 'Last Mile' problem when applied to short-distance travel in the city. 80 per cent of its materials come from BASF composites and plastics, thereby reducing weight and increasing flexibility in design.
On the other hand, innovative products such as Elastopave permeable pavement, Running track with ETPU+EPDM composite, artificial turf, air fryer, Volvo integrated leather PU engine sound absorbing decorative covering and other innovative products have left visitors deeply impressed.
In addition, nearly 400 professionals also participated in five 'Open Forum' sessions prepared by 16 heavyweight speakers.
"Plastics, especially new materials, continue to emerge, providing enormous help to the designing process," remarked Lian Zhen, General Manager of LKK Design, Shanghai, who was one of the speakers.
"During its many years of development, plastics have been inspiring and providing an increasing number of possibilities of designs, including innovations in the upstream and downstream industries, which focus on plastics and injection, and have enriched our imagination, realising creative ideas that once could only be dreamt but not tried.
"The ‘Design x Innovation’ open forum is a relatively new format, allowing exchanges between creative designers and technical personnel, through which different sectors manage to understand each other's needs and demands, and leads to better co-operation. I learned a lot from them."
'Meet the Designers' provided more opportunities for interaction and cooperation between industrial designers and end-users. Many acclaimed designers were present. Experienced industrial designers and user enterprises looking for product design came into direct communication, enlightening each other, answering questions and discussing cooperation possibilities concerning product designs.
What wonders will 'Design x innovation' 2017 bring to the industry? Stay tuned!
Medical Plastics Conference uncovers treasures
The growing demand for medical devices by the huge population in recent years, the rise of emerging markets and an ageing population is triggering a renewed growth of the medical device market.
China’s healthcare industry is at a stage of abundant potential, but is at the same time having a low level of technology, prompting manufacturers to find adaptive solutions to existing production lines and cost pressures. New and better materials are the key to the future development of medical enterprises.
The concurrent event Medical Plastics Conference has been held successfully in the past two years, receiving very positive feedbacks from the industry.
"At the Medical Plastics Conference, the technical experts shared the state-of-the-art technology of the industry and analysed development direction of medical applications and solutions," praised the Shanghai Medical Device Industry Association. "At the same time, processing technology related to the production of precision medical polymer was introduced, offering enterprises knowledge of new materials and direction of development."
The second Medical Plastics Conference lasted two days, attracting 600 professional visitors.
Topics covered included: the latest medical polymer materials, 3D printing in clinical and surgical model applications, medical laws and regulations, as well as application of surgical models. For instance, Shanghai MicroPort Medical (Group) Co., Ltd. introduced the technology of precision medical polymer tube for invasive medical device, and Wego Holding Co., Ltd. explained the opportunities and challenges of biomedical polymers development in China under the “new normal”. Attendees included delegates from 3M China, GE Medical, Poppelmann, UEG medical, Touren, GM, Renolit, Suzhou Baxter medical and other major enterprises.
The 2017 Medical Plastics Conference, to be held in the afternoon of May 17th and in the morning of May 18th in Conference Room 1, Level C, Zone B, will bring together the upstream and downstream sectors of the industry to discuss the latest applications of medical plastics and cutting-edge production technology.
The conference will also be concurrent with a showcase gallery which focuses on exhibitors’ medical products of all types in order to help visitors quickly spot their targets among the massive amount exhibits.
CHINAPLAS 2017 will be held at the China Import & Export Fair Complex, Pazhou, Guangzhou, PR China on May 16th – 19th, 2017.
