This first ever forum dedicated for improving efficiency in the plastics industry hosted by the European Plastics Distributors Association (EPDA) has been heralded as a great success.
The summit took place at GEHR GmbH’s plant in Mannheim, Germany, on November 25th-26th
2015, with GEHR’s Helmut Gehr giving the opening address followed by EPDA President David Ladyman and GEHR Sales and Marketing Director Thorsten Fuessinger. The first seminar, 'How the 4th Industrial Revolution Could Improve Efficiency in the Plastics Industry' was presented by Eva Bognor MSC, a research associate at the Institute for Factory Automation and Production Systems.
GEHR was chosen by the EPDA to host the first ever Distributors Forum because of its prowess in thermoplastic semi-finished products-, plates-, rods- and tubes-manufacturing. The event also included a tour of the company’s state-of-the-art facilities.
On the second day, David Ladyman led a discussion group before a presentation by another eminent expert, Thilo Bischoff, Head of Product Management at BASF SE, on Developments and Trends in Engineering Plastics. There were also opportunities on each day of the event for members to network over dinner and lunch.
Jaco Frankfort, Business Development Manager at Industrial Plastics Europe BV in The
Netherlands, part of the Omnia Plastica Group, has over 30 years’ experience in the plastics industry and has been an EPDA member since 2004. He found the two days very informative and would like to see forums become a regular feature.
He said: "This was the first forum held by the EPDA. It’s a new approach of keeping members informed of industry developments and it was a 100 per cent success. I enjoyed it and it was good to meet many of my industry colleagues from across Europe. The combination of group discussions and the tour of the GEHR worked very well.
"The topic about advances in engineering plastics provided a complete overview of plastics in the world, which was very interesting. The more information we are given at events like this can only help us improve the plastics market in Europe."
