Successful re-start for SurfaceTechnology GERMANY

After the pandemic-related cancellation in 2020, SurfaceTechnology GERMANY experienced a successful restart with around 3,000 visitors from Germany and neighboring EU countries. 220 exhibitors, nearly every third of whom are from abroad, presented solutions, products, and services at the industry meeting of surface technology and showcased current trends in the surface industry.

"That was a successful re-start. Exhibitors and visitors are very satisfied with how the event went," says Hendrik Engelking, Global Director Surface Technology at Deutsche Messe AG. "We are very pleased with the number of visitors given the circumstances, especially since the quality was extremely high."

The strongest visitor countries after Germany were Italy, Switzerland, Turkey, Austria, India, the Netherlands, France, and Slovenia. For the first time, the event recorded a 100% professional visitor share. Every third came from top management, every fourth from department management levels. Almost every third visitor came to SurfaceTechnology GERMANY with very specific investment intentions. When asked about their goal for attending the fair, most cited: seeking new innovations, market overview, as well as looking for suppliers and new business contacts. After two years of enforced break, the desire to maintain existing contacts was very pronounced. Further education and knowledge expansion were also frequently mentioned goals. One-third of visitors also looked for concrete solutions for their own companies.

According to the survey, most visitors came from the metal processing industry, closely followed by the automotive, machinery and plant engineering, electronics, and plastics industries. Visitors from aerospace, medical technology, semiconductor industry, or precision and fine mechanics also used the fair to learn about solutions, products, and services from the surface industry.

High quality of contacts and conversations

A key area of SurfaceTechnology GERMANY is traditionally the joint booth of the Central Association of Surface Technology (ZVO). With around 60 companies, the joint booth once again delivered an impressive presentation of electroplating technology. "Business contacts, whether existing or new, are based on trust, which fundamentally requires personal contact. This was finally possible again here in Stuttgart after four years of pandemic-related pause. The broad visitor spectrum at SurfaceTechnology GERMANY enables exhibitors to make countless contacts and have conversations that would normally take several weeks in traditional sales," says Christoph Matheis, ZVO Managing Director. "It was a pleasure to see how seamlessly SurfaceTechnology GERMANY picked up where it left off in 2018, and how visitors embraced the restart amid interrupted supply chains, soaring energy prices, inflation, and climate change," he adds. "Our co-exhibitors give a consistently positive first impression and, as four years ago, are very impressed with the quality of visitors and conversations, although the number of visitors felt lower than in 2018. ZVO is optimistic that SurfaceTechnology GERMANY 2024 will once again reach pre-COVID levels in exhibitor and visitor numbers."

Dr. Martin Riester, spokesperson for General Air Technology/Surface Technology at VDMA, also expressed satisfaction with the event. "After the COVID-related break in 2020, SurfaceTechnology GERMANY successfully restarted. Despite challenging economic conditions, Deutsche Messe AG organized an attractive and internationally oriented event. Exhibitors and trade visitors benefited from the broad range of surface technology offerings. Based on this, we view the future development of the event very positively and look forward to SurfaceTechnology GERMANY 2024."

The exhibitors of the joint booth "Process Chain Surface Technology" also had a successful event. The focus here was on showcasing various surface properties and coatings, highlighting their advantages in different applications. A second focus this year was on the topic of digitization in the sense of Industry 4.0 in electroplating, with positive results in energy and resource savings and maintaining a safe working environment for employees. "The quality of conversations was consistently rated positively by the co-exhibitors. The combination of presentations at the forum and the booth led to numerous promising contacts. Notably, the contact initiation for new technologies in the context of Industry 4.0 was almost exclusively carried out by international visitors," says Herbert Kaeszmann, organizer of the WOTech joint booth.

Great interest in the technical forum

The technical forum of SurfaceTechnology GERMANY, serving as a central hub for knowledge transfer and exchange of experience, was well attended on all days. With a comprehensive program of 48 presentations, the forum provided insights into the current world of surface technology. The offerings related to the use of laser technologies attracted great interest, as did the possibilities for creating functional surfaces through PVD processes or the broad field of alternative coating technologies. Above all, it became clear that coating companies are currently working on increasing the use of data processing, which is widely discussed under the abbreviations AR, VR, or AI, in their daily operations to make processes more efficient. The shift in the automotive industry towards e-mobility plays an important role for many coating companies.

Among the highlights of the forum was the award of the Stuttgart Innovation Prize "DIE OBERFLÄCHE" by Fraunhofer IPA. The 2022 winner was DÜRR Systems AG – Overspray-Free Coating Application with EcoPaintJet Pro. The company, with great perseverance and in collaboration with partners from the paint and automotive industries, brought the idea of completely overspray-free wet coating to realization, potentially creating a disruptive innovation," praises juror Michael Hilt, Managing Director of the Research Society for Pigments and Coatings e.V. .

The Speakers Corner, a meeting point for speakers and listeners, proved successful and was actively used. For the first time, the technical forum was also streamed live on the event website.

Exhibitors also expressed complete satisfaction:

Peter Mack and Markus Schlagwein, Sager + Mack GmbH & Co. KG
"The anticipation for the fair after 4 years was great. It is all the more gratifying that our expectations were fully met. It was a positive fair with good organization by Deutsche Messe. We were pleased to meet industry colleagues as well as new contacts, and we had very good conversations at our booth. It was a pity that the exhibitors' evening and the mid-week celebration could not take place, but we are all the more looking forward to SurfaceTechnology GERMANY 2024."

Dr. Christoph Stecher, acs Coating Systems GmbH
"We, at acs Coating Systems, are very satisfied with the course of the fair. Our offerings related to wear-resistant anti-stick coatings generated very promising new contacts. Especially our new, PTFE/PFAS-free coatings (without "Teflon") attracted great interest."

The next SurfaceTechnology GERMANY will be held from June 4 to June 6, 2024, in Stuttgart.