The 26th edition of the "Fakuma" (www.fakuma-messe.de) trade fair from 16-20 October 2018 had 1,933 exhibitors from 40 nations present their products and services. The warm autumn weather in Friedrichshafen / Germany was a welcome addition to the event's atmosphere. A total of 47,650 visitors from 126 countries descended on the event focused on injection moulding, said organiser P. E. Schall (Frickenhausen / Germany; www.schall-messen.de). The previous edition of Fakuma witnessed 48,375 visitors.

According to P. E. Schall, the exhibitors were "consistently positive and more than satisfied." The organiser noted that relevant points of interest for plastics processors were new materials, more efficient manufacturing processes, 3D and 4D printing alternatives, digitalised and automated production solutions as well as reduced energy consumption for machines and systems. Sustainability issues such as plastics recycling, lightweighting and biomaterials were highly discussed at this year's Fakuma, said P. E. Schall.

Plasteurope.com's parent company the KI Group (Bad Homburg / Germany; www.kiweb.de) had a stand at the trade show, and Plasteurope.com sales and marketing director Katharina Kolk was happy to welcome the many visitors that stopped by. The "KI Group Summit" this year was on digitalisation. It took place on the second day of the trade fair and proved to be a success with more than 150 participants – see Plasteurope.com of 23.10.2018. Each day, PIE's sister publication K-PROFI published the German-language Fakuma newsletter, "K-PROFI täglich", which had a distribution of 27,500 copies and enjoyed positive feedback.

Fakuma will not run next year, as usual when the plastics industry meets for the next triennial "K" (www.k-online.de) trade fair in Düsseldorf / Germany from 16-23 October 2019.