After a weak period over the past two years the glass sector is now looking very positively into the future proving its innovative power at glasstec with a host of highlights.
1,235 exhibitors from 52 countries were able to welcome more than 40,200 trade visitors from over 100 countries over the four days of the trade fair.
glasstec 2016 has again provided impressive proof of its standing as the leading global trade fair for the glass sector this year.
Industry experts from the areas of mechanical engineering, glass production, processing and finishing, skilled crafts, architecture/construction as well as window/façade and solar systems are very satisfied with their participation: exhibitors unanimously report concluding good business deals, promising contacts and an upbeat mood in the global glass sector, a fact expected to generate profitable follow-up business.
“Without doubt glasstec is and will remain the most important trade fair for glass machinery and plant building. This has been confirmed once again this year by the high percentage and quality of international visitors. This position now has to be built upon.
A challenge we have to meet together with our partners from the glass industry, the glazier trades and Messe Düsseldorf,” says Dr. Bernd-Holger Zippe, Chairman of the Board of VDMA's Glass Technology Forum and Chairman of the glasstec Advisory Board.
In terms of visitors the quality of this trade fair is again underscored by the high percentage of top-management executives. More than half the visitors came from this decision-making level of their companies.
Furthermore, over 40% of visitors attended glasstec 2016 with concrete intentions to invest. The proportion of guests travelling to Düsseldorf from abroad continues to be unrivalled, also by international standards in this industry.
Summing up the results, Joachim Schäfer, Managing Director at Messe Düsseldorf, said: “The glass sector has once again impressively demonstrated its many facets and performance potential in Düsseldorf. We were able to see an innovative industry in the nine exhibition halls that looks to the future with optimism.”
Special Show glass technology live: inspiring and pioneering
The Special Show glass technology live (gtl) in Hall 11, which was organised under the auspices of Prof. Stefan Behling, Senior Executive Partner at Foster & Partners in London, and the IBK 2 team of Stuttgart University, served as a central meeting place for the industry.
As an innovation forum for future glass applications the Special Show is the most important catalyst for the international glass sector. Under the heading “Future – Glass – Performance” exhibits revolving around free-form, ultra-thin, solid and informative glass were on display here.
Highlights included smart glass that can adapt to varying light conditions such as electro-chromic glass, or interactive glass as a carrier of information and electronics, as well as head-up displays and Smart-Home functions or an interactive all-glass sports floor. In the structural segment a nine meter long and four meter high all-glass slide made for surprised faces, to name but one exhibit.
Therefore the Special Show not only proved an inspiration for architects and designers with new application possibilities in building skins but also boasted a host of further developed glass products for new fields of application.
Line-Up of Conferences focuses on the Right Themes
The agendas of the three conferences “Function meets Glass”, ”engineered transparency“ and “International Architecture Congress” convinced the delegates with a spectrum of highly topical subjects and internationally renowned speakers.
As early as the day before the trade fair experts from the sector industry already met at the new, 2-day conference “Function meets Glass”. Its first “edition” already managed to get together the international community of the technical world of glass registering over 120 participants from 22 countries.
The scientific conference “engineered transparency” attracted 210 participants from 25 nations to Düsseldorf and shed some light on the latest developments in structural glass construction in over 70 lectures.
Finally, the International Architecture Congress marked the successful close to the series with 200 delegates and exciting talks such as the one delivered by British star architect Ian Ritchie.
The next glasstec will take place in due course – in two years from 23 to 26 October 2018 in Düsseldorf.
Exhibitor Statements of glasstec 2016
Quotes:
It has been both an honor and a joy to be able to serve as President of this year’s glasstec. The exhibition once again proved to be a global showcase for our industry. Even despite the great variety of exhibitors and visitors, the material glass and the fascination that emanates from it is what unites us. glasstec again made it clear that this material still has great potential.
Dr. Frank Heinricht, President of glasstec
"As a leading manufacturer of glass solutions, Guardian needs to have a constant dialogue with the market. We want to introduce new products, highlight our many solutions, inspire innovative applications and see customer reactions, as well as meet new customers, re-connect with existing ones and generate new business opportunities. glasstec 2016 offered us a unique platform to do all of these things in an industry-focused environment. We simply loved being part of the show."
Guus Boekhoudt, Vice President Flat Glass – Europe & Managing Director Guardian Europe S.à r.l.
"The NSG Group has had an extremely successful exhibition at glasstec 2016, where we presented a variety of products from our product portfolio alongside new ideas currently in product development. This was an ideal opportunity to invite both existing and potential customers to the stand.
It has been several years since we exhibited at glasstec, but we decided the timing was right to attend the event in 2016. Attending glasstec 2016 proved to be a very successful event for the business, with a good flow of visitors to the stand.
This resulted in positive discussions taking place about both existing products and new developments in the market place; providing us with useful market insight to help determine future R&D activities.
Attending glasstec 2016 proved to be a very successful event for the business, with a good flow of visitors to the stand. This resulted in positive discussions taking place about both existing products and new developments in the market place; providing us with useful market insight to help determine future R&D activities.
It was definitely the right decision and the right time to exhibit at glasstec 2016."
Jolanta Lessig, Marketing Communications Manager Europe Architectural Glass, NSG Group
"glasstec is the trade fair highlight every two years. It gives us the opportunity – concentrated in one location and condensed into a few days – to present our machinery, solutions and services to a large international audience.
We managed to make many, very good new business contacts and also see strong interest among our existing customers whose feedback and suggestions will be our take-home messages and input for our product development.
This year we have used glasstec to present our silk-screen printing solution for the first time; and we received incredibly positive feedback for it on the part of the expert audience. This has confirmed our view that glasstec is the right platform for new launches."
Johanna Neumann, Head of Marketing BENTELER Maschinenbau GmbH
"The demand for technical glass is on the rise in general and the applications for glass are getting more and more special. We can feel this in the requirements made by our customers. For us it is therefore also very important to engage with our customers, listen closely to them and to gain an overview of new developments at the stands.
At glasstec we primarily present exhibits for our skilled crafts customers. Through innovative products we allow them to work more efficiently, thereby giving them a crucial competitive edge.
glasstec continues to be the global No. 1 trade fair, which covers all facets of the material that is glass and is therefore the most important trade fair for Bohle worldwide."
Dominik Hinzen, Head of Marketing and Communication | Head of Direct Marketing Deutschland Bohle AG
"Our stand was buzzing with people all the time, the interest was enormous and the conversations were correspondingly very good. Here at glasstec as the leading international trade fair we again received good feedback to our innovations from the market; especially in regards to the new generation of thermal insulation glass and the new triple glazing concept, which we developed together with Saint-Gobain’s subsidiary Swisspacer. We are well set and I am very optimistic regarding future market developments."
Jürgen Peitz, General Manager of Saint-Gobain Building Glass Germany, Austria, Switzerland
"glasstec doubtlessly is and will remain the most important trade fair for glass machinery and plant building. The international origin and high quality of visitors has confirmed this again this year.
This position now has to be built upon. A challenge we have to rise up to together with our partners from the glass industry, glazier trades and Messe Düsseldorf."
Dr. Bernd-Holger Zippe, Member of the Board at VDMA Glass Technology Forum and Chairman of Zippe Industrieanlagen GmbH
"The programme of high-calibre supporting events is a success factor of glasstec. With the new international conference "Function meets Glass" we have hit the industry’s nerve. New functions, thin and smart glass – we will continue working on that and expand the format further.
The producers of glass machinery and plants have impressively demonstrated how digitization and networking help the glass industry advance using concrete examples – this was extremely well received by the visitors."
Timo Feuerbach, VDMA Glass Technology Forum
"glasstec is the international No. 1 trade fair and we have been very satisfied with the results of glasstec 2016 so far. We have made brilliant contacts across all the industries we serve. We boast the widest product portfolio in the industry and all sectors were buzzing with activities – without exceptions.
The industrialization of production is of major importance – a topic that has risen to international significance now and that we drive very strongly. And glasstec is a very good platform to do so – both at the trade fair stand and at the series of lectures."
Othmar Sailer, CEO of the LiSEC Group
"We had a great time at glasstec 2016!
Many new and interesting contacts, inspiring conversations, and exciting ideas. We´re definitely coming back!"
Christof Babinsky, Managing Director at ASB GlassFloor
"We are extremely pleased with the outcome of Glasstec 2016. We welcomed in our booth more than 1.000 visitors from 50 different countries, with a massive participation from USA, East Europe and Oceania, Visitors were focused and well prepared, an indicator that the industry is growing and developing, which is a positive signal for a company that provides technology. This edition of the exhibition is positioned among the best result in sales for the last 10 years both in terms of volumes and quality of the contacts."
Christian Leschiutta, Intermac Sales Director
The 2016 edition of Glasstec confirmed once again the great success of FOREL within the glass processing industry.
Many visitors were present at the stand – the biggest ever for the company – to look closely at the latest technology and cutting edge innovations of the Italian brand, like the gas filling analyzer (world premiere 2016) and the profile bender for plastic material
Lots of interest has also been demonstrated for the vertical cutting line in conjunction with the new Sorting System which FOREL has developed to improve and optimize the logistic inside the glasswork
The Italian company is approaching the end of the year with a renew awareness and the will to continue to deliver the best solutions for its clients
Marco Trevisan, Marketing Manager, Forel S.p.A.
"glasstec is a unique and unrivalled platform which allows us to meet and discuss business opportunities with customers from around the world. We have fully embraced this chance to showcase our latest silicon innovation which enables efficiency, durability and longevity of high performance building."
Markus Plettau – Dow Corning Regional Market Leader Europe
