Formnext 2024: An outstanding start to the new trade fair year

Formnext has made an excellent start to the new trade fair year: Despite the rather subdued economic situation in Germany and global political challenges, by the end of February, around 574 companies from 35 different countries had already registered for the world's leading trade fair for Additive Manufacturing and the next generation of industrial production.

“The fantastic registration figures for Formnext reflect the relevance of Additive Manufacturing for the whole of the industrial sector,” said Sascha F. Wenzler, Vice President for Formnext at event organizer Mesago Messe Frankfurt GmbH. “AM is a technology that makes it possible to meet current challenges and harness new economic potential. At the same time, Formnext also reflects the continued strong growth of the global AM industry, which paves the way for the industrial future with numerous innovations and applications every year.”

With the current registration figures, Formnext 2024 has exceeded the excellent data from the previous year. Of the exhibitors registered so far 64 percent are from abroad. Alongside Germany, the major exhibitor nations include the USA, China, the UK, France, the Netherlands, Italy, and Spain. Along the previous exhibitors is the world’s Additive Manufacturing elite, including companies such as 3D Systems, Additive Industries, AddUp, Altair, Arburg, BASF, BigRep, Bosch, Carbon, DMG Mori, Dyemansion, EOS, Evonik, Farsoon, Formlabs, GE Additive, Henkel, Höganäs, HP, Keyence, Linde, Markforged, Materialise, Nexa3D, Nikon SLM Solutions, Renishaw, Ricoh, Sandvik, Siemens, Sisma, SMS Group, Stratasys, Trumpf, Velo3D und Voxeljet.

Wenzler attributes the fact that Formnext is able to continue its impressive success story even in these rather complex times to the excellent business opportunities offered by the world of Additive Manufacturing and Formnext – not only for manufacturers of 3D Printing systems, but also for companies along the entire process chain. “We are also seeing more and more companies from traditional industrial sectors discovering the 3D Printing industry as an exciting sales market and wanting to benefit from the annual growth rates, which tend to be in double digits.”

Rainer Lotz, President EMEA at Renishaw and Chairman of the Formnext Exhibitor Advisory Board, confirms the relevance of Formnext: "We recognized the potential of Additive Manufacturing many years ago. Formnext has since been our annual focal point to showcase our innovations in the AM field, as well as in the overall process, particularly in the area of quality assurance, and to drive forward the industrialization of the technology."

This development is highlighted by the high number of new exhibitors, including large, renowned companies such as Bechtle AG, PLC, and Schaeffler Special Machinery. Daniel Pokorny, Vice President Communications Technology, Innovation & Digitalization at Schaeffler, outlines the first-time registration at Formnext: "Schaeffler Special Machinery will showcase its in-house developed multimaterial 3D Printing machine for industrial manufacturing at the trade show. Through sample parts, the machine manufacturer of the Schaeffler Group will also demonstrate their diverse application potentials for industries such as medical technology or e-mobility. With its debut appearance at Formnext, the Motion Technology Company aims to establish itself as a reliable technology partner in the growing market for Additive Manufacturing in the long run."

The majority of the new exhibitors, from a total of 25 countries, are based in traditional sectors and offer industrial and software solutions as well as measurement technology, automation, and engineering solutions. However, specialized AM products such as innovative 3D printers and materials will also be represented. It is clear that Formnext 2024 already promises many new solutions and applications for a wide range of industries and will once again turn Frankfurt into the global center of Additive Manufacturing and innovative solutions for the future of industrial production from 19 - 22 November 2024.