The 30th CHINAPLAS Grandly Opens With Over 3,300 Exhibitors

Celebrating its 30th edition, CHINAPLAS 2016, the 4-day-long (April 25 – 28) extravaganza opens at Shanghai New International Expo Centre, PR China today.  A myriad of eye-catchers are comprised of exhibits and concurrent events that cover every application industry and every stage in the life cycle of products along the lines of innovation, automation and green technology.  World renowned suppliers of chemical materials and equipment will be presenting their best world-class solutions at the 30th CHINAPLAS.



A New Logo, a New Milestone, a New Direction



Being thirty is a significant milestone for CHINAPLAS, of which the vision and aspiration are expressed through the cleverly designed logo of its 30th edition.  The digits “3” and “0” constitute the main part of the logo. The upward surge of three circles, growing in size and in completeness, symbolizes the ongoing expansion of CHINAPLAS, which, by introducing to exhibitors and visitors alike something new every year, promotes the ceaseless development of the plastics and rubber industries towards perfection and sustainability.  Like a wind vane, CHINAPLAS points the direction to forward-looking and innovative inspiration for the industry. 



Expanding on Adversity



Having been serving the plastics and rubber industries for more than thirty years, CHINAPLAS is now the No.1 plastics and rubber trade fair in Asia.  According to Ms Ada Leung, General Manager of Adsale Exhibition Services Ltd, organizer of CHINAPLAS, the number of exhibitors this year reaches a record-breaking high of 3,300 in spite of the less favourable global economies.  The exhibition area also boasts an 80% increase to 240,000 square metres compared to 2008, the last time when the economy was sluggish.  Both achievements show that CHINAPLAS and the plastics and rubber industries are capable of swimming upstream and thrive well.  Among raw material and plastics and rubber machinery suppliers, those that take part in CHINAPLAS are preeminent figures in the world.  So is the trade fair itself.  As for visitors, in early years they were mostly manufacturers of plastic products.  Now, the visitor profile has been extended to a multitude of industries, including automotive, packaging, electronics & IT communications, building & construction, medical, toys, etc..



Forward-looking Strategies Driven by User Needs



Chameleonic consumer needs, coupled with the evolving industrial ecology, urge the manufacturing sector to transform and upgrade.  Nowadays, CHINAPLAS has become a user-need oriented trade fair. Trendy materials and technologies presented to visitors all fit in the current or projected needs of plastics and downstream industries, like lightweight automobiles, food safety, green packaging, low carbon buildings and light-thin electronics, etc.  Industry 4.0, intelligent manufacturing, Internet+ are undoubtedly among the hot topics, and at the same time core ingredients of some forward-looking development strategies of the various plastics application industries, regardless of the different materials and machinery involved.  The Industry 4.0 Conference, jointly presented by CHINAPLAS and VDMA, the German Engineering Federation, which will be held on April 26 and 27, is therefore organized in response to the needs.  Operational action plan and smart factories will be the focus of this conference.  The introduction of German technology provides opportunities for manufacturers to transform and upgrade.



New Elements Drive Sustainable Development



CHINAPLAS manages to undergo hardship and repeatedly reach the summit over the years by virtue of the yearly introduction of new elements, which ensures the sustainability of the fair itself.  Among the 16 special theme zones, one of the recurrent distinguishing features of CHINAPLAS, the Automation Technology Zone and the Composites & High-performance Materials Zone make their Shanghai debuts this year, while the Recycling Technology Zone is the latest introduction to the trade fair.  Exhibits in the last mentioned zone encompass each part in the recycling chain, such as sorting, shredding, washing, dewatering, drying and granulation.  The new zones are set up in response to the industrial needs of automation, going green and upgrading.



While recycling is at the same time an end point and a new starting point in the life cycle of products, design is the driving force behind the enhancement of products.  New plastics technologies continue to appear, allowing product designers to realize good designs, and create new experiences and higher values for customers.  CHINAPLAS once again joins hands with BASF, the world's leading chemical company, to present “Design X Innovation”, a concurrent Event comprising of the display of innovative and sustainable solutions at the Innovation Gallery, Open Forums and Meet the Designers, to stimulate product creativity.  

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“Design X Innovation” provides product developers and industrial designers with enlightening inspirations.




New ideas are introduced not only by the organizer in terms of theme zones and events, but also by exhibitors in the form of premiere technologies.  The organizer disclosed that there are over 40 kinds of ground-breaking technologies which are launched for their first time either in the world or Asia, including:.

• Arburg's ALLROUNDER Golden Electric is precise, powerful and energy-efficient.  It comes in four sizes with a clamping force ranging from 600 to 2,000 kN. The machines are also easy to maintain, and can save energy up to 50% when comparing to hydraulic machines;
• LeanEX 90 high-speed polyolefin pipe extrusion lines introduced by Battenfeld-Cincinnati (Foshan) produce good quality pipes with high line speed.  For 630 mm pipe lines, the speed is 5 m/min. The output of the LeanEX 90-30 model is 800kg/h for HDPE and 640kg/h for  PP-R;
• Makrolon^® polycarbonate from Covestro realizes the key attributes of Kaynemaile's architectural mesh – its light weight, remarkable strength and translucency. The seamless architectural mesh is produced via a continuous injection molding process resulting in a 3D structure comprised of solid rings. The final product is recyclable, highly durable and resistant to rust;
• Milacron introduces innovative injection molding solution, namely Klear Can which is a multi-layer plastic can. It can replace metal can in the area of packaging and it has a longer shelf life. The can's excellent transparency allows consumers to judge the quality of food and its packaging material is not consist of  Bisphenol A;
• Dow Packaging and Specialty Plastics launches INNATE^™ Precision Packaging Resins which will empower customers to unlock new packaging opportunities through unmatched stiffness-toughness balance, processing ease and improved sustainability profiles. The materials can further reduce weight and increase packaging efficiency. They are suitable for both flexible packaging and industrial packaging;
• NatureWorks' new Ingeo-based film features high oxygen and water vapor barrier properties.  With the adoption of Metalvuoto Oxaqua coating technology, the Ingeo base film can replace two layers of different materials with one layer that simultaneously provides excellent barrier and heat-seal ability;
• YuMi, the world's first truly collaborative dual-arm industrial robot is launched by ABB. While YuMi was specifically designed to meet the flexible and agile production needs of the consumer electronics industry, it can operate in very close collaboration with humans and it is also compact, with human dimensions and human movements, which make human coworkers feel safe and comfortable.

(More information is available in  New Technology eBook)



Ada Leung remarks that all the common characteristics of these technologies, namely, innovation, automation, precision, safety, energy-efficiency and cost-reduction, are closely tied to the practical needs of entrepreneurs when they transform and upgrade their businesses.  These characteristics also enhance the multi-functionality, added-values, efficiency and competitive edges of products, supporting the sustainability of businesses.  CHINAPLAS is more than an annual platform for industries to showcase their products and technologies.  It is also a source of inspiration for product developers, engineers and designers.

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Production automation has become the forward-looking development strategy of a lot of manufacturing enterprises.

A Kaleidoscope of Events Tailored for Application Industries



The success of CHINAPLAS depends on the prosperity of the downstream industries.  In this light, a number of communicative activities are organized to include the participation of application industries, so that their needs and future development can be clearly understood.  Examples of such activities are the 2nd Medical Plastics Conference, 2016 Haier Supplier Communication Conference, MicroPort Technical Conference, Seminar on The Trend and Development of Consumer Electronics Technology, Industry-University-Research Collaboration Summit on Plastics Packaging – Latest R&D Achievements of Green Packaging Materials and Seminar on How to Cope with the New Demands of Plastics Application in Automotive Industry.



Turning New Pages, Molding a Fine Future



Trends affect industries, but creativity never goes out of style.  According to Ada Leung, the demand for high performance, personalized products is increasing, resulting from the constant pursuit of quality life by the expanding middle-class consumer base worldwide, and in turn contributes to the trend of small batch multi-variety production, which involves shorter lives and development cycles of products.  The ever changing consumer needs are driving forces of the transformation and upgrading of the manufacturing sector. In a sense, the yarns that have weaved the development of CHINAPLAS have been the global economies, the concerns of the industry and the society, as well as the needs of the buyers.  In the years to come, CHINAPLAS will continue to guide the industry in these changing times by seizing opportunities in the dynamic environment in order to mold a fine future.