Taking place between September 25 – 27, 2018, at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) in Birmingham, the Processing and Packaging Machinery Association (PPMA) and TCT exhibitions return for another year. Both firm favourites in the packaging, processing and additive manufacturing industry calendars, here’s a quick run down of what you can expect to find if you are attending this year.

Jade Ziola-Sammons, senior account executive at Stone Junction

PPMA
Celebrating its thirtieth year in 2018, the show is set to be one of the largest and most comprehensive in its history. The event will welcome over 350 exhibitors from the processing and packaging machinery industries and will showcase some of the latest innovations across the food and beverage, pharmaceutical and personal care and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industries.

Labelled at the UK’s leading production line event, there will be plenty to see, learn and do at the show, including several product launches.

As part of the show, The PPMA Enterprise Zone will include a series of workshops, presentations, interactive discussions, question and answer sessions and panel debates covering industry trends and topics. Top highlights include the Use of Smart Technologies and Robotics for Packaging Optimisation on Tuesday 25 and the Future of Food Manufacturing session running on Wednesday 26. 

Another development for the 2018 show is the introduction of PPMA TV, which will see two film crews capturing the latest news and interviews around the show. It’ll also be broadcast live on YouTube, so even if you can’t make the show, you can keep an eye on what’s taking place.

Don’t miss:

• ABB, a leader in electrification products, robotics and motion and industrial automation is exhibiting on stand F80. 
• TM Robotics and RARUK Automation will be demonstrating the Flexibowl feeding system and Toshiba Machine’s THL700 SCARA robot on stand E20. 

TCT
The TCT Show is one of the world’s leading design-to-manufacturing events, with a focus on additive manufacturing, 3D printing, design and engineering technology. In 2018, the show will see more than 300 exhibitors take their spot to welcome more than 10,000 visitors across the three days from more than 40 countries.

The event hosts the largest concentration of advanced digital manufacturing exhibits in the UK and includes a bunch of learning zones, demonstrations and product launches as well as a comprehensive conference and seminar programme.

TCT main conference highlights this year include a session on September 27 from the Natural History Museum on how they 3D scanned a 23-metre-long blue whale, and a session on additive manufacturing in aerospace on September 25.

Don’t miss:

• A presentation from engineering technologies company, Renishaw, on Tuesday, September 25 at 11:50am on the TCT Introducing Stage (H50) on how multi-laser additive manufacturing can boost productivity and reduce cost-per-part.

Of course, the Stone Junction team will be attending the show over the course of the three days to catch up with clients and journalists, take a look at the latest technology and meet new contacts. If you’d like to arrange to meet one of the team to speak about how we can support you with technical PR, please get in touch with Kirsty McMahon on +44(0)1785 225416 or email [email protected].