In only a few days, it is Formnext Week.
FormNext is the world’s largest 3D print trade show, an event we often attend in person.
By “largest”, I mean something close to 40,000 attendees from around the world and many hundreds of exhibitors. In the past, the show featured nearly 1000 exhibitors, showing over four days.
This time, however, it seems that it will be somewhat smaller: they will be using only three convention floors instead of four. This reflects the ongoing consolidation in the industry: companies are merging, going bankrupt, tight budgets for smaller spaces, or they simply cannot afford to attend.
According to Mesago, the show producers, there should be something close to 800 exhibitors, although that counts some booths that have multiple exhibitors sharing space.
This phenomenon was quite visible a couple of years ago when now-defunct Nexa3D booked a large patch for their booth but didn’t even show up. Later, they announced they were winding things down.
I’m not sure anything that dramatic will occur this year, but there is always something of interest to discover. Our plan is to tediously trek through every single aisle to identify any new 3D print technologies we can find and report on them over the next few weeks. Speaking to 800 exhibitors in four days is always a challenge.
Quite often, the newest technologies come from small startups, which are often unable to afford large and flashy booths. In other words, the smallest exhibits sometimes have the most interesting stuff.
There is also a considerable amount of networking (and even sales) that takes place at this event, both during the show and afterwards. That’s what happens when you put so many additive technology minds in the same place.
If you’d like to catch up with us, please reach out at [email protected], and perhaps we can arrange something.
Otherwise, we will be walking the halls from dawn to dusk.
Via Formnext
