This coming week our team will be at Formnext 2022 in Frankfurt, Germany once again.
We haven’t been to Formnext in person since 2019, before the world changed. That’s been a shame, since Formnext is by far the world’s largest exhibition of 3D printing equipment, materials, hardware and software on the planet.
This year’s event is set to be slightly smaller than the 2019 edition, as companies are still recovering. Nevertheless, the event will surely be enormous. Some statistics of the 2021 event courtesy of Mesago, the folks behind Formnext:
- 606 exhibitors
- 17,859 attendees
- 38,100 square meters (410,000sf) of exhibition space
- Half of the exhibitors and attendees were not from Germany
- 58 hours of 147 presentations scheduled
The event takes place at the massive Messe in Frankfurt Germany, one of the world’s largest exhibition centers. As you can see in this chart, as big as Formnext is, it takes up only two of the many gigantic halls at the Messe.
As you can see in this growth chart, the event is set to be larger. While it may not be quite as large as 2019, I expect there could be 700-800 exhibitors and 20-25,000 attendees.
The event is not only useful for us to see different companies and equipment, but also to network with new and old friends in the industry, where stories are swapped and deals are made.
Attending an exhibition of this size is a daunting task, and everyone will be besieged with announcements, claims, demonstrations and more. Sometimes it is hard to discern what matters and what doesn’t. Fortunately, former Fabbaloo Managing Editor Sarah Goehrke wrote a terrific piece with a checklist of what to look for when attending Formnext and similar events, which you might want to read.
Our plan is to attempt to visit all relevant exhibitors. Yes, I know this is a challenge: with, say, 700 exhibitors to see in about 40 hours of opening time. That works out to around 200 seconds each, so we will be moving along at warp speed.
If you’re also attending Formnext, we’d love to meet up if possible. Please give us a shout if you’re looking for us at the fair.
Via Mesago
