The “EuroMold” international fair for mouldmaking and tooling, design and application development (www.euromold.com) is moving location. Next year's event will be held from 6-9 October 2015 in Düsseldorf / Germany, as opposed to the familiar fairgrounds in Frankfurt. Organiser Demat (Frankfurt / Germany; www.euromold.com) announced the move on 28 November, the last day of “EuroMold 2014”. The main reason for the change in location is a new focus and a more flexible organisation, Demat said.

“EuroMold is the perfect addition to our existing portfolio of specialised fairs,” said Werner Dornscheidt, who heads the management of Messe Düsseldorf (www.messe-duesseldorf.de). He added that the fair’s focus complements Messe Düsseldorf’s plastics fair as well as its metal fair quartet “Gifa”, “Metec”, “Thermprocess” and “Newcast”. Dornscheidt said the location in Düsseldorf not only gives EuroMold stability, it also brings additional impulses as a result of synergies from both the exhibitor and visitor angle.

Rather than take the move lying down, Messe Frankfurt (www.messefrankfurt.com) has announced that it will hold its own fair for mouldmaking and tooling, design, product development and additive finishing technologies. “formtext” will take place in Frankfurt from 24-27 November 2015, to ensure the site’s role as the sector’s main exhibition hub.

The quarrel is set against the backdrop of Messe Stuttgart’s (www.messe-stuttgart.de) recent announcement that it will host the new “Moulding Expo” international fair for tool, model and mould design (www.moulding-expo.de). This particular event enjoys the broad support of several German associations and industry players (for previous coverage, see Plasteurope.com of 16.10.2014).

One of the key assets of EuroMold appears to be additive manufacturing. Indeed, insiders report that this year’s event also had a special focus on 3D printing. German machinery maker Arburg’s (Loßburg; www.arburg.com) unveiling of its “freeformer” at “K 2013” could have pointed the way for the technology’s potential (see also Plasteurope.com of 20.10.2013).

By contrast, traditional tool and mould production appeared to be on the wane at this year’s EuroMold, players told Plasteurope.com. At the same time, companies active in this particular field are reportedly already busy booking their stalls at the new fair in Stuttgart.