Typically, an industry trade show is a time for celebration as companies roll out new technology, announce expansions and highlight positive fiscal results.
This is not a normal year, especially for a European plastics industry that has been dealing with harsher economic results than U.S.- and Asia-based competitors.
Fakuma 2024 begins today in Friedrichshafen, Germany, just hours after exhibitor Sumitomo (SHI) Demag announced big changes aimed at helping its long-term prospects.
Machinery maker Sumitomo is cutting jobs and will make structural changes to its operations in Germany in response to a 50 percent decrease in demand for its products in 2024.
Lower sales, higher energy costs, fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and disruptions from Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 aren't new. The European plastics industry has been facing increased headwinds for years and managed to hang on. But with recovery still barely visible on the horizon — officials from industry group VDMA noted that businesses have to "wait a little longer for the turnaround" — some companies find they simply cannot wait any longer.
"In the medium term, a revival of investment activity … is not expected," Sumitomo CEO Christian Maget said in a news release. "The slumps being experienced have been exacerbated by market conditions beyond our control. Like these industries, we must prioritize how we adapt and adjust our core competencies and production capacities to best support our customers and these wider industry transformations."