ACHEMA 2021: Stimuli for business growth

For months, getting in touch was only possible via digital media. At the same time, the corona experience accelerated transformation processes in many companies – partly due to distance rules and working from home that gave a new urgency to digitization projects, partly triggered by upheavals in supply chains that revealed weaknesses in processes. Together these two changes mean that the search for new solutions and the need for information about cutting-edge technologies are at the top of the agenda for many industry representatives.

ACHEMA 2021 comes at just the right time: "Especially in the current situation, the importance of leading trade shows is evident: As a communication hub and innovation driver, next year's ACHEMA will provide an impetus for the process industry, giving the industry additional momentum during the recovery phase. For Linde Engineering as a global player in plant engineering - as well as for me personally as ACHEMA Chairman - ACHEMA 2021 will be the undisputed highlight of the year," says Jürgen Nowicki, CEO of Linde Engineering and Chairman of the ACHEMA Committee. The number of registrations shows that exhibitors are convinced of the need for a trade show: 85 % of the space at the previous event has already been booked.

Especially the topic of digitalization, which is the focus of attention at ACHEMA 2021 in the Digital Hub, is driving many companies. "Controlling plants remotely, transforming processes to match new supply chains - the challenges of the Corona era have shown where the potential of digitalization lies - but also where there are still gaps", says Dr- Thomas Scheuring, CEO of DECHEMA Ausstellungs-GmbH. Companies that could help to close these gaps will find a home at ACHEMA's Digital Hub: complemented by interactive discussions, guided tours and  “food for thought”, start-ups and established players in the "digital ecosystem" can showcase and discuss their offerings with representatives of the process industry.

Other fields also showcase many innovations: The three focus topics "The Digital Lab", "Product and Process Security" and "Modular and Connected Production" are strongly interlinked with digitalization, but each of them highlights specific aspects. In addition, ACHEMA offers the entire spectrum of equipment, processes and integrated solutions from research laboratories, components and plants to the packaging line - in other words, everything that innovation-hungry engineers, process technicians, chemists and plant constructors expect.

The new health and safety concept will allow for a similar and also new experience at ACHEMA 2021. "The ACHEMA Experience 2021 will fully meet the expectations of an exhibition - experience technology with all your senses, discuss with other experts from all over the world in person and take away new impulses. At the same time it will also be a new experience: With consistent hygiene rules and maximum safety for all participants, but also with new digital elements," says Dr Björn Mathes, Member of the Executive Board of DECHEMA Ausstellungs-GmbH, describing the vision of ACHEMA 2021. This applies not only to the exhibition, but especially to the congress, which will be expanded to include digital interactive formats.