Last week, the 13th International Converting Exhibition ended after three days of flourishing business. From 14 – 16 March, a total of 4,850 trade visitors from 64 countries came to Munich to discover the latest machinery, systems, materials, and accessories, which is a more than 30 % increase in visitor numbers compared to the previous event. Shaping the future of the converting industry, 338 exhibitors from 20 countries showcased their products and services on a net exhibition space of some 8,700 square metres at the world’s leading exhibition for the conversion of flexible, web-based materials, such as paper, film, foil and nonwovens. With the success of this year’s edition, the show organisers announced the next ICE Europe to take place from 12 – 14 March 2024.
“We are delighted to see such a positive turnout and how this year’s exhibition matched the energy and enthusiasm of our shows before the pandemic! Both exhibitors and visitors were highly satisfied, whether meeting with existing contacts or establishing new business relations. This affirms our course for the ICE Europe brand and makes us very proud to be able to provide the converting community with a regular key event – the only of its kind”, states Patrick Herman, Event Director of the Converting, Paper and Print Events, on behalf of RX.
The majority of visitors came from Germany, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Poland, Spain, Czech Republic, France and Turkey. The first results of the show analysis have also shown that the visitors mainly came from the following industry sectors: packaging, engineering, printing, plastics, paper, chemical, automotive, textiles/ nonwovens, electronics, pharma/ healthcare/ medical and others. They were primarily interested in coating/ laminating, slitting/ rewinding, print technology, accessories and machine upgrades, control, test & measurement technology, finishing, drying/ curing, film extrusion, materials/ (semi) finished products and (pre) treatment.
The top exhibitor countries included Germany, Italy, Turkey, China, Great Britain, Spain, the United States, Switzerland, France and the Netherlands. In addition to the strong line-up of leading brands, the prestigious ICE Awards took place on the first show day, honouring three exhibiting companies with the ICE Awards for their outstanding technological achievements.
ICE Awards 2023: Innovative exhibitors honoured with prestigious awards
The award ceremony was hosted by RX, and for the very first time, in cooperation with C2 Magazines, where best practice, excellence, innovation and outstanding achievements of exhibitors were honoured with the ICE Awards, in the following categories: ‘Digital Converting Solutions’, ‘Sustainable Products and Converting Processes’, and ‘Efficient Production Solutions’.
Nicola Hamann, Managing Director of RX, in cooperation with Martin Hirschmann, Editor-in-Chief of C2 Magazines, presented the ICE Awards 2023 to three exhibiting companies on the first day of the show. The winners had previously been determined via a verified online voting. The competition received more than 30 entries from a wide spectrum of start-ups and leading brands, where over 2,500 converting specialists submitted their casting vote to determine the winners of the individual categories.
The company DIENES Werke für Maschinenteile GmbH & Co.KG. received 34% of all votes in the category ‘Digital Converting Solutions’ and won an ICE Award for its TEOC (“The End of Coincidences”), which combines DIENES’ digitalisation activities. Within this framework, the recently launched TEOC Service Packages include a modular architecture with hardware and software features, which can be combined in accordance to individual customers’ needs.
In the category ‘Sustainable Products and Converting Processes’, the company INOMETA GmbH received 38% of all votes and won the ICE Award for its heating roller, which has been designed to meet the needs and requirements for laminating foils and other substrates. It ensures a reliably constant and homogeneous surface temperature distribution, as this is the prerequisite for uniform web tempering.
With 29% of all votes, the company tesa SE won the ICE Award in the category ‘Efficient Production Solutions’ for its highly durable roller wrapping tape: the silicone tape tesa Printer’s Friend 4863 with an embossed surface. The product design ensures high resistance to wear and offers easy application and removal, even after a prolonged time period and exposure to high temperatures.
Dates for the next shows
Existing and new exhibitors have already expressed their interest in participating at the upcoming show edition in 2024. ICE Europe will take place from 12 – 14 March 2024 at the Munich Trade Fair Centre.
In the ICE series of dedicated trade events for the converting industry, ICE China will be held from 11 – 13 October at the Shenzhen World Convention and Exhibition Centre. Early next year, RX will organise ICEC USA, from 9 – 11 January 2024, in Orlando, Florida.
