More than 12,500 trade visitors from over 100 countries are expected at Index 17 in Geneva, Switzerland. Photo: Palexpo
Although there are no major textile machinery shows scheduled this year, 2017 will still be another eventful one for companies and organizations involved in the man-made fiber industry, particularly those touching on the nonwovens and technical textiles sectors.
Nonwovens
The Index 17 trade fair – the largest global exhibition for the nonwovens industry – will take place from April 4-7.
Held every three years in Geneva, more than 12,500 trade visitors from over 100 countries are expected to see products and services displayed by more than 580 exhibitors (+10% on the previous edition in 2014) from 41 countries on over 22,100 m2 of net stand space.
Index 17 will again include a full event program comprising free tutorials and conferences, special features and workshops.
Running alongside Index for the first time on April 5-6, the Filtrex conference and tabletop exhibition, organized by EDANA, the Brussels, Belgium-based association for the nonwovens and related industries, will highlight future growth opportunities in the nonwovens-based filtration sector.
Meanwhile, EDANA’s Outlook conferences for the nonwoven personal care, hygiene and medical products sectors begin with Outlook Plus Latin America in São Paulo, Brazil, from March 7-9. This will be followed by the flagship Outlook 2017 event in Cascais, Portugal, from September 27-29.
Together with the China Nonwovens and Industrial Textile Association (CNITA), EDANA will also organize the first EurAsian Geotextiles Symposium on June 7-8 in Beijing, China. This two-day conference and a tabletop exhibition cover markets, products and technology for geotextiles.
In the U.S., INDA Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry will be busy with the World of Wipes International Conference from June 12-15 in Nashville, Tennessee, while RISE 2017, the Research, Innovation & Science for Engineered Fabrics Conference, will take place from September 12-14 in Raleigh, North Carolina.
The following month, from October 10-12, the Filtration International Conference & Exposition will be held in Chicago, Illinois, with Hygienix 2017 taking place in Austin, Texas, from November 6-9.
Technical textiles
2017 will be a busy year too for trade fair organizer Messe Frankfurt, which runs the global Techtextil and Texprocess exhibitions, among others for the textile industry, such as Heimtextil, Texworld and Avantex.
Held every two years, the flagship Techtextil show in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, from May 9-12 is billed as the leading international trade fair for technical textiles and nonwovens, showing the full range of potential uses of textile technologies.
Running parallel to Techtextil is the Texprocess trade fair for processing textile and flexible materials, which features innovations in the fields of information technology, design, cutting, sewing, joining, knitting, embroidery, finishing and textile printing.
First up in the 2017 calendar, however, is Techtextil Russia, which will be held for the ninth time from February 20-22 in Moscow.
Organized by Messe Frankfurt RUS and now held annually, Techtextil Russia will form part of Russian Textile Week (February 20-24), which also includes: Inlegmash – International exhibition for textile manufacturing and processing; CJF 2017 SPRING – Child and Junior Fashion; Maternity Wear; and Interfabric – International exhibition of fabric and textile materials (organized by Expocentre).
Together, the Techtextil Russia and Inlegmash events will present the entire spectrum of equipment, raw materials, component parts, and integrated products and services for the light industry and for technical textiles in particular.
The 6th Techtextil India takes place in Mumbai, India, from September 13-15. The 2015 edition brought together 158 exhibitors from 11 countries and 5,050 decision-makers from 31 countries.
Meanwhile, the annual Techtextil North America event will again be co-located this year with Texprocess Americas, co-produced by SPESA and incorporated with ATME-I, as well as JEC Americas, from June 20-22 in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Now in its 14th edition, Techtextil North America will assemble all vertical aspects of the technical textiles and nonwovens industries, from research and development to raw materials, production processes and conversion, as well as further treatment and recycling.
On a net floor space of more than 15,400 m2, the 2016 “three-in-one” event in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, hosted 589 exhibitors, attracting over 9,300 visitors. Country pavilions included Italy, Belgium, China, Germany, China, Taiwan, Business France and SEAMS Made in USA.
Later in the year, the IFAI Expo will be held in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, from September 26-29. This is billed as an event for the specialty fabrics, advanced textiles, and shade and weather protection sectors.
Back in Europe, the third International Conference on Nonwovens for High-performance Applications will be held from March 7-8 in Prague, Czech Republic.
This meeting will inform delegates of successful transitions in the high-performance nonwovens sector and discuss the best markets to choose, including presentations of new technologies, manufacturing techniques and materials.
Organized by International Newsletters, the conference brings together senior managerial, technical and marketing staff from nonwovens manufacturers, suppliers to the industry, converters/finishers, product designers and processors, application sector original equipment manufacturers, researchers and end-users from around the world to discuss progress and possibilities.
Held biennially, the A+A trade fair and congress covers all aspects of health and safety at work, including personal protection textiles; this year’s event again takes place in Düsseldorf, Germany, from October 17-20.
Fibers
Reverting to its traditional Wednesday-to-Friday format, the 56th Dornbirn Man-made Fibers Congress will take place from September 13-15 in Dornbirn, Austria.
The main topics will be: fiber innovations; fibers and textiles for hygiene and healthcare application; fibers and textiles for protective applications; and sports and leisure wear.
Last year’s event attracted around 720 participants from 34 countries and more than 100 lectures, with around 50% presented by industry.
The Dornbirn-MFC organizers have announced a partnership with Messe Frankfurt, which holds the global Techtextil events and also Avantex, the fair for high-tech materials and fabrics for clothing held twice a year in Paris.
Last year, EDANA organized a lecture block for the nonwovens segment at Dornbirn, while Dornbirn-MFC will organize a special lecture block for the next Techtextil fair in Germany in May.
Now in its 11th year, the PCI Wood Mackenzie European Nylon Symposium brings together key industry delegates with an agenda aimed at providing insights into the strengths and weaknesses of the polyamide market. The event will be held from March 7-8 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, while the American Nylon Symposium will take place in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, from April 5-6.
And now in its 19th year, the PCI Wood Mackenzie Americas Polyester Industry Conference held in Houston, Texas, USA, on March 1-2 will bring together key industry players for an overview of the economic, technical, environmental and commercial themes affecting the American polyester industry. The European Polyester Industry Conference will follow on September 29-30 in Berlin, Germany.
Finally, the Aachen-Dresden-Denkendorf International Textile Conference will be held in Stuttgart, Germany, from November 30 to December 1. With more than 700 participants, this event is regarded as one of the most important textile conferences in Europe.
Composites
With the weight reduction trend driving the development of fiber reinforced composites in automotive engineering, aerospace and construction, the global composites industry is set to continue its upward trajectory in 2017 and beyond.
With growth particularly forecast in the transport and construction sectors, the industry is hoping for additional gains from the use of composites in modern materials systems that go beyond individual groups of materials.
The JEC World composites event will be held from March 14-16 in Paris, France. With 1,300 exhibitors and more than 100 countries represented, the event has become the largest international show for the composites industry, according to organizers JEC Group.
Meanwhile, the 10th edition of JEC Asia will take place for the first time in Seoul, South Korea, from November 1-3, in partnership with Hanyang University and KCTECH, while “Symposium 2017 powered by Experience Composites” will take place in Augsburg, Germany, from November 21-22.
Composites Europe, the 12th European Trade Fair & Forum for Composites, Technology and Applications, will be held in Stuttgart, Germany, from September 19-21. The event had previously alternated with Düsseldorf, but will now be held annually in Stuttgart from 2017.
The decisive factor was the proximity to the sectors that stimulate international demand for modern lightweight materials, such as the automotive industry, vehicle engineering, the aerospace industry and the electronics sector.
“The Stuttgart region and Baden-Württemberg specifically stand out as leading technology hubs currently driving innovation in the composites industry,” emphasized Olaf Freier, event director of Composites Europe.
Moreover, the trade fair’s development has been particularly dramatic in Stuttgart, with 470 exhibitors displaying the entire production and manufacturing process of fiber reinforced composites there in 2015.
