The second edition of JEC Forum DACH closed its doors after two promising days, hosting hundreds of business meetings and highlighted by awards ceremonies.

JEC Forum DACH was launched by JEC Group in partnership with AVK with a major goal to support the bustling composites industry of the region. Unique in its format, the event aimed to be rotating to different cities in Germany, Switzerland and Austria every year. It was in Augsburg that this second edition settled, at the heart of a composite’s golden triangle, close to Munich and Ingolstadt.

“We are very proud to have been able to organise this hand in hand with AVK and we thank all the participants for their trust,” stated Anne-Carole Barbarin, regional events director at JEC Group. “Our objective is still to offer the local industry leaders the opportunity to build strong business connections with one-to-one meetings and get a full picture of the latest innovations in the area. With this in mind, JEC Forum DACH was a success, that would not have been possible without the buyers’ and suppliers’ will to gather, network and get inspired.”

Dr Michael Effing, AVK chairman added: “Focusing on matchmaking, this event represents a very important platform, in this important geographical region DACH that represents almost 45% of the composites industry in Europe: networking and supporting the industry with new impulses is crucial, particularly in the key markets e-mobility, wind energy, building and infrastructure and also the next generation of aircraft. At this year’s forum, the topic of sustainability / recycling proved to be one of the current focal topics of our industry. The AVK is also dedicated to this in its currently offered working groups.”

To optimise company’s participations, JEC Forum DACH offered a customised programme to match attendees needs and schedule meetings during the two days. More than 440 business meetings were organised, whether during formal allocated time slots or informal gatherings such as the networking lunch or the evening networking event.

Sourcing and fostering innovation are JEC Group’s first ambition, the renowned JEC Composites Startup Booster competition held a local version to shine a light on innovative composites projects in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Five finalists were invited to pitch their project in front of experts and leading industry players. Among them, Composite Recycling was designated as the winner, for developing a highly energy efficient and sustainable process to separate the resin from the fibres and make them reusable in new composites.

Later that day, the AVK Innovation Awards invited nine companies and projects on stage for their outstanding work in science and research in all the categories, with a special focus on sustainability.

Mainly, promoting new products, components and applications made from fibre-reinforced plastics (FRP), it also highlights new processes and methods for manufacturing FRP products as well as research and science conducted by universities, colleges, and institutes.

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