France’s JEC Group, AVK unveil new composites event for D-A-CH region

August 11, 2021 - France

JEC Group and AVK, the Federation of Reinforced Plastics in Germany, have launched an annual event - the JEC Forum DACH - for the D-A-CH Region, to support the composites industry in the region. The event will explore all forms of composites and their applications. The first edition will take place in Frankfurt am Main from November 23 to 24, 2021.

Unique in its format, the event will be rotating to different cities in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria every year.

JEC Forum DACH will include pre-arranged business meetings between sponsors and attendees as well as sponsors workshops. The event will present exclusive content such as an extensive composites conferences programme, the annual AVK market overview — also available via live-streaming technology for remote participants — and the prestigious AVK-JEC Innovation Awards.

The JEC Startup Booster competition will also be introduced in the D-A-CH region for the first time. JEC Forum DACH will also provide a composites tour to enable participants to visit key players of the local composite’s ecosystem on November 25.

This event’s primary aim is to support the composites industry in this region and resume business after a challenging, yet complex period. The event´s format will focus on applications, industry, as well as other regional composites-related, specifies every year. The goal is to develop business, to connect and reach out to the local industrial apparatus and its major players such as universities, research and development centres and companies of all sizes.

Eric Pierrejean, CEO of JEC Group, said: “JEC Group mission is to promote the composite materials industry by sharing knowledge, developing networking, and celebrating innovation. This new concept of event, developed in partnership with AVK, will activate business, bring together experts and customers, but also highlight the local dynamic ecosystems of composites in this important geographical region for our industry.”

“With JEC Forum DACH, we allow local industry leaders to build connections and stronger business ties to support the industrial growth in the region. Thanks to JEC Forum DACH, the German, Swiss and Austrian composites community will get a full picture of the latest innovations and trends. And more importantly, in this period, where finding new markets can be daunting at times, this event will be the place to facilitate business,” said Christian Strassburger, JEC Forum DACH event director.

Dr. Michael Effing, chairman of the board of the AVK, said: “We are very pleased to create this new composite event in the D-A-CH region in alliance with our strong partner JEC Group. This important geographical region represents almost 45 per cent of the composites industry in Europe, including many SMEs as well as some large companies across all industries. The economy is recovering and further upturning. Focusing on matchmaking, this event represents a very important platform for networking, supporting the industry with new impulses, particularly in the key markets e-mobility, wind energy, building and construction and the next generation of aerospace.”

Dr. Elmar Witten, managing director of the AVK, said: “AVK, as Germany´s trade association for composites with the longest history of nearly 100 years, is very proud to integrate our experience and to place this central event in the German-speaking countries together with our strong partner JEC Group. We will contribute our know-how and long-term tradition to these events, especially in the field of detailed market overviews, the establishment of the accompanying symposium, the innovation awards and, last, but not least, our yearly general assembly with our member companies.”