ICE Europe, CCE International and InPrint Munich will return from March 15-17 at the Munich Trade Fair Centre in Germany. ICE Europe is an international exhibition for paper, film and foil converting. CCE International is focused on the corrugated and folding carton industry. InPrint Munich, meanwhile, is aimed at printing professionals and manufacturers. Patrick Herman, exhibition director for converting, paper and print at organiser Mack-Brooks Exhibitions, answered Packaging Scotland’s questions about the return of in-person events following a break in 2021.
Q) Why did you decide to host ICE Europe, CCE International and InPrint Munich at the same time? What advantages will this bring for both exhibitors and visitors?
A) By holding ICE Europe, CCE International and InPrint Munich at the same time and venue, we bring together three specialised exhibitions and create an even more comprehensive show experience for both exhibitors and visitors. InPrint Munich, for example, covers ‘print’ more extensively and therefore complements the visitor journey on-site.
Exhibitors will be able to benefit from a broader audience and increased opportunities. A highlight for participants of all three shows will certainly be the comprehensive supporting programme. The conferences at InPrint Munich offer insights into market developments and innovative projects.
Presentations will focus on current technology trends, new application systems and the latest printing technology solutions for industrial production.
The popular ‘Open Seminars’ at CCE International cover trends and topics relating to corrugated and folding carton production and processing are discussed. And once again, ICE Europe presents the ICE Awards to honour exhibiting companies from the converting industry for best practice, innovations, excellence and outstanding performances.
Q) How excited are you to be hosting an in-person exhibition again after all the pandemic-related challenges of the past two years?
A) As organisers of several B2B and B2C events, we have already been able to successfully hold numerous live shows at international level since the pandemic. Therefore, the participants of ICE Europe and CCE International as well InPrint Munich will benefit from our experience and proven security concepts.
However, there is great anticipation within our own ranks and in the industry to finally do business in-person. It will be a great to be back on the show floors again.
Q) What is the line-up?
A) As of today, a total of 467 exhibitors will be presenting their latest technologies on a combined net exhibition space of more than 13,500m².
Amongst exhibiting companies are: (ICE Europe) Kroenert, Kampf, Polytype, Davis Standard, Erhardt + Leimer, CMC; (CCE International) Lamina System, Baysek Machines, Solarco Machinery, Kolbus, Bahmüller, Emmepi, Sun Automation; (InPrint Munich) XAAR, Agfa, Seiko Instruments, Inkatronic, Meteor Inkjet, Siegwerk, Afford Inks and many more.
Q) Do you think the lack of in-person exhibitions has highlighted just how important they are?
A) Our exhibitions are thematically highly specialised and uniquely positioned, and they have been the meeting place for international industries for several years.
Exhibitors and visitors meet primarily to buy and sell. Accordingly, these exhibitions thrive on personal contact.
When buying and selling machines in these industries, we are almost always talking about medium- and long-term investments. The machines and equipment want to be seen and inspected on-site and personal relationships need to be established and strengthened before the deal is closed.
These are all things that, in the eyes of our exhibitors and visitors, only a presence trade fair can really offer.
Q) What impact can winning an ICE Award have on a business? What categories will be featured this year?
A) For over 20 years, ICE Europe has been presenting technological innovations and the latest manufacturing trends for the converting of flexible, web-based materials, such as paper, film, foil and nonwovens.
Therefore, it provides the perfect opportunity to honour best practices, excellence, innovation and extraordinary achievements in the converting industry.
The ICE Awards are very popular within the industry and feature the following categories this year:
– Digital Converting Solutions (Digitised manufacturing processes, intelligent machines and pioneering systems).
– Sustainable Products and Converting Processes (Environmentally friendly products and solutions as well as sustainable production processes)
– Efficient Production Solutions (performance-enhancing and resource saving production innovations)
The winners will be determined by experts from the converting industry through online voting, which is still open until 10th February 2022.
