Afera, the European Adhesive Tape Association, will host the 1st Global Adhesive Tape Summit - from 11th – 15th June 2018 in Munich, Germany - a unique event bringing together companies along the adhesive tape value chain of not only Europe, but Asia, North America and the Middle East.
With a working programme built around 26 lectures by industry experts, the Global Tape Summit will take place at the Sheraton Munich Arabellapark Hotel in Munich, and will offer four days of learning about current technical advancements and market conditions, meeting on standardisation issues, and networking with industry leaders.
The event will also feature interactive panel discussions, the biennialGlobal Tape Forum (GTF) and Global Test Methods Committee (GTMC) meetings, and a half day company visit of Neenah Gessner GmbH in Bruckmühl. Numerous networking opportunities, such as breaks, cocktails and meals, including an evening at local restaurant “Spatenhaus an der Oper”, are also planned.
With over 200 expected attendees, Afera’s Global Tape Summit is aimed at industry professionals across the adhesive tape value chain, including manufacturers, raw materials, machine and packaging suppliers, converters, distributors, end users and research institutions. R&D, sales, marketing, customer/technical service, engineering, production, processing, and quality assurance personnel in particular will benefit greatly from this event, as well as general management and anyone involved in strategic planning. A large international turnout is forecast, with particular interest already registered from China and Taiwan.
A unique, international European tape technology conference themed “Collaboration”
Under the theme of “Collaboration”, Afera has formulated the 1st Global Tape Summit to incorporate critical technical and market aspects of the European adhesive tape business with key international meetings of the regional industry associations and their test methods experts. Multiple presentations delivered by authorities from each global region represented in the GTF (Europe, North America, China, Taiwan and Japan) are planned. English-Chinese interpreting will be provided.
“In order to deliver optimal solutions to meet customers’ or sectors’ needs, our business models are increasingly based on close collaboration with companies along the entire value chain. This means knowing your partners inside and out—and also finding the missing links that can help you carry your business forward. Afera events are not only perfect for this kind of interaction and learning, but this is Europe’s first truly global tape conference,” commented Evert Smit, Afera Technical Committee chairman and head of R&D at Lohmann GmbH & Co KG.
Mr. Smit is host of the Global Tape Summit, leading an organising committee consisting of Reinhard Storbeck, director of R&D at tesa SE; Ian Grace, global technical support manager for tapes and labels at Bostik Smart Adhesives; Ralf Rönisch, head of R&D at Coroplast Fritz Müller GmbH & Co. KG; Gert-Jan van Ruler, technical support and business development manager at DRT - Les Dérivés Résiniques et Terpéniques; and Danny Beekman, senior technician of adhesives application development at Kraton Corporation.
Valuable technical, market data and regulatory content planned
“The Global Tape Summit is the biggest tape event in a decade in Europe, organised by tape businesses for tape businesses. Learning about the newest megatrends in tape technology, plus meeting all the players in the tape value chain, is making it this spring’s industry hotpot,” said Mr Storbeck.
“Asia accounts for approximately 50% of the adhesive turnover worldwide, and this is still growing. At this rare event, I see huge potential in gaining knowledge of cutting edge tape developments in Asia, the US and Europe, in deciding on test method harmonisation, and in networking on a global scale in an ever more globalised marketplace,” added Mr Grace, who will lecture on state of the art reactive hot melt pressure sensitive adhesives (PSAs) on 14th June.
The working programme will consist of 4 sub-themed seminars: Where We Are, Maintaining the Core, and Proactive and Reactive Drivers in the tape business. Topics covered include:
· Global and regional tape market data and trends
· New acrylic PSA and tape applications in mobile phones
· Adhesive materials for electric vehicle batteries
· Optimising RFID Adhesive Design for IoT using rheological methodology
· European chemicals regulation, REACH (including Turkey)
· Packaging tapes in paper recycling
· Ecologically and environmentally friendly PVC tapes
· Lowering your green risk in the global market
· Efficiency in converting, including new methods such as laser die-cutting
· UV curing and tape performance
· Emulsion acrylics over solvent-based systems
· PSAs vs. cohesives
· Effect of adherents and tackifiers on peel of SBC systems
· Comparing quantitative high-temperature test methods for silicone PSAs
· Detecting smell-creating substances in acrylic adhesives
· Developing low-odour hot melts and reactive HMPSAs
· Tailoring surface modification of substrates by atmospheric plasma for improved compatibility with specific adhesives
· Semi-structural tapes
· Evaluating fatigue of joints bonded with a structural adhesive and a PSA
· Polyolefin foams for semi-structural flexible bonding applications
Having spent a decade in the fastener industry experiencing every facet – from steel mills, fastener manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, as well as machinery builders and plating + coating companies, Claire has developed an in-depth knowledge of all things fasteners.
Alongside visiting numerous companies, exhibitions and conferences around the world, Claire has also interviewed high profile figures – focusing on key topics impacting the sector and making sure readers stay up to date with the latest developments within the industry.
