Formnext Connect: what did the community think?

Formnext Connect closed last week. After much anticipation from the community on what the physical event turned digital would look like, the event did not disappoint! The organisers stated in their press release “Formnext Connect succeeds as the digital heart of the international AM industry.” Mesago Messe Frankfurt GmbH further revealed that 8,541 active participants from more than 100 nations participated in this virtual edition. Additionally, 203 exhibitors were present, with about 2,200 representatives showcasing 1,412 different products. The digital event provided 221 lectures and presentations, and sessions were watched by 45,000 spectators. The event was remarkably different from what it was just a year ago, when everyone around the world would come to Frankfurt to meet in person. In 2019, Formnext had welcomed 850 exhibitors and 34,500 participants! So, what were these differences?

Overall Experience at Formnext Connect

The decision to turn Formnext into a virtual event was one that the organisers delayed until September, leaving them with about 8 weeks to prepare. Though it was a wise choice, organising the industry’s largest trade show in a few weeks must have been quite the challenge. Nevertheless, the platform that we were introduced to on the 10th had some interesting features including the use of AI-supported matchmaking to connect with other participants and request meetings. Even though this was certainly a cool feature, nothing beats face-to-face interaction as we were told by Ricoh: “Naturally it is more difficult to engage with people on a virtual platform – people can simply ignore your requests, as with email, whereas it is more difficult to avoid a face-to-face approach!”

Just like in previous editions, the event hosted a number of international product launches, including new materials, post-processing solutions, and a SLM machine. Formnext Connect and the TCT Conference @ Formnext presented current trends and significant innovations from the world of AM, and gave a detailed insight into technological advances. Finally, the main stage hosted panel discussions with technology experts from the various user industries like aerospace, automotive, construction, medicine, etc. The quality of the content was undoubtably very good and it was great to see that innovation hadn’t slowed down during the pandemic.