Technological watch
KraussMaffei: รข??Where injection molding stops, additive manufacturing starts'
DUESSELDORF, Germany—With K 2022 closing in on its final days, it's safe to say that, despite the twin challenges of COVID and travel disruptions, the turnout at the show is impressive. And, as always, the KraussMaffei stand is thronged with staff and visitors crowded around the various exhibits.
According to Stefan Fenske, director global application owner IMM, that's not surprising.
"People are keen to meet in person again. It is great to be able to be face to face with people again," he said, during a brief interview with Sustainable Plastics.
His colleague, Carl Popel, director of global product management, agreed. "People want to get back to normal — which is great. Because we have a lot to show them."
What is, for you, different about this K, compared with previous shows?
Fenske: The strong focus on circular economy, sustainability and climate protection—it is the first time these have been actual K fair themes.
For us, K has always been the show to introduce innovations and new developments and this show is no different, with our introduction of additive manufacturing as a completely new technology. Of course, next to the new product lines, we are focusing of the pain points of our customers, and one of these is energy efficiency and sustainable processing to save as much CO2 as possible.
One example of this is our precisionMolding demonstration, where we are processing a bio-based PE. One (metric ton) of that material binds three tons of CO2, so we are even showing solutions with overall CO2 reduction impact.
Popel: Also, as we said in the beginning, people are just so very glad to be back, because they—customers and colleagues—missed the 'family' feeling we have here at KraussMaffei. That makes this K special—as well as the fact that it is the 70th anniversary of the fair!
Fenske: As far as difference in attendance is concerned: it is a little less, but very much better than expected, given the fact that COVID made it almost impossible for the Chinese to travel, who tended to be a noticeable percent of our visitors.
According to Stefan Fenske, director global application owner IMM, that's not surprising.
"People are keen to meet in person again. It is great to be able to be face to face with people again," he said, during a brief interview with Sustainable Plastics.
His colleague, Carl Popel, director of global product management, agreed. "People want to get back to normal — which is great. Because we have a lot to show them."
What is, for you, different about this K, compared with previous shows?
Fenske: The strong focus on circular economy, sustainability and climate protection—it is the first time these have been actual K fair themes.
For us, K has always been the show to introduce innovations and new developments and this show is no different, with our introduction of additive manufacturing as a completely new technology. Of course, next to the new product lines, we are focusing of the pain points of our customers, and one of these is energy efficiency and sustainable processing to save as much CO2 as possible.
One example of this is our precisionMolding demonstration, where we are processing a bio-based PE. One (metric ton) of that material binds three tons of CO2, so we are even showing solutions with overall CO2 reduction impact.
Popel: Also, as we said in the beginning, people are just so very glad to be back, because they—customers and colleagues—missed the 'family' feeling we have here at KraussMaffei. That makes this K special—as well as the fact that it is the 70th anniversary of the fair!
Fenske: As far as difference in attendance is concerned: it is a little less, but very much better than expected, given the fact that COVID made it almost impossible for the Chinese to travel, who tended to be a noticeable percent of our visitors.
This project has been co-funded with the support of the LIFE financial instrument of the European Union [LIFE17 ENV/ES/000438] Life programme
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