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formnext 2020 to Take Place only Virtually

formnext 2020 was previously planned as a hybrid trade fair, that is, with the on-site eventat the Frankfurt exhibition grounds plus a digital add-on component. This plan was based on the Corona Contact and Operating Restrictions Ordinance valid in the State of Hesse and a health and hygiene concept agreed upon with the City of Frankfurt am Main, the State of Hesse and Messe Frankfurt.

“The current rise of the COVID-19 infection figures in Germany, Europe and around the world have led to increasing uncertainty among exhibitors and visitors. Together with the renewed tightening of official and in-house travel restrictions,this willno longer allow the otherwise highly international Formnext to be carried out in the accustomed quality,” stated Petra Haarburger, President of Mesago Messe Frankfurt.

“We have been planning formnext 2020 for months now. We have done this consistently and with the full support of our Exhibitor Advisory Boardandwith the highest level of protection and safety for the health of our exhibitors and visitors. In doing so, we examined the entire layout of the fair from scratchfromthe halls with all entrances, booths, to the aisles. We devised completely new stand construction packages, spacing and communication areas in accordance with the health and hygiene concept agreed with the authorities. Our disappointment at the end of the summer is all the greater now that we have to recognize that the course of the pandemic is destroying our efforts to makethesepersonal encounters possible again,” explained Sascha F. Wenzler, Vice President Formnext Mesago Messe Frankfurt.I n the course of the crisis, the Additive Manufacturing (AM) industry has clearly demonstrated the potential that lies in flexible, diversified and decentralized production. There is no doubt that AM will be one of the leading technologies that will lead the way out of the recession. It will play a major role in the development of new products, the design of resilient supply chains and the development of sustainable business models. An exchange between technology providers and users is absolutely necessary for this, and we are now putting all our energy into the realizationof a virtual formnext, the Formnext Connect. It will be the central virtual platform for business and knowledge exchange for the global AM community at the end of the year,” Sascha F. Wenzler continued.

The members of the Exhibitor Advisory Board of formnext, Rainer Lotz, Chairmanof the Exhibitor Advisory Board (Renishaw), Dr-Ing. Kristian Arntz (ACAM), Dr Christoph Schumacher (Arburg), Kai Witter (Dyemansion), Dr Thomas Weitlaner (EOS), Nora Cibula (GE Additive), Ingo Kuhlmann (IKOffice), Günther Rehm (iQtemp), Dr Karsten Heuser (Siemens), Andreas Langfeld (Stratasys) and Dr Markus Heering (VDMA AG AM) unanimously welcome and support this decision. Formnext Connect will start as a virtual event from10 November 2020 and will offer a wide range of digital services. These include exhibitor presentations in showrooms (products, information, videos, chat function, lead generation / lead tracking), intelligent matchmaking with all participants supported by AI, live streaming and on-demand contentof the supporting program and webinarsas well as the scheduling / assignment of appointments for online meetings with exhibitors.Further details will follow shortly.

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