Conference Programme
The conference language is English.
CONFERENCE PROGRAMME 2026
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| TUESDAY | MARCH 3rd 2026 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FUNDAMENTALS OF THERMOFORMING Training Course for Thick Gauge | Congress Center: Rooms Boston/Dresde | FUNDAMENTALS OF THERMOFORMING Training Course for Thin Gauge | |||
| 9:30 | Heavy Gauge Lecturers: Wolfgang Daum, Mauro Faé, Michel Py | 9:30 | Thin Gauge Lecturers: Brandon Zechman, Andreas Dobringer, Michel Py, Herb Kittelmann, Mark Strachan | ||
| 12:30 | Lunch break | 12:30 | Lunch breack | ||
| 13:30 - 16:00 | Heavy Gauge Lecturers: Wolfgang Daum, Mauro Faé, Michel Py | 13:30 - 16:00 | Thin Gauge Lecturers: Brandon Zechman, Andreas Dobringer, Michel Py, Herb Kittelmann, Mark Strachan | ||
| EVENING | |||||
| 17:30 - 19:30 | Conference Registration | ||||
| 18:30 - 20:30 | Welcome Reception A warm welcome to friends and colleagues | Congress Center: Rooms Etoile A+B | |||
| WEDNESDAY | MARCH 4th 2026 | Venue: Congress Center | |||
| 8:00 | Conference Registration | ||||
| GENERAL SESSION | |||||
| Moderator: Sven Engelmann / Thierry D'Allard | |||||
| 9:00 | Welcome to Strasbourg - Conference Introductions & Welcome | ||||
| 9:15 | "European Challenges in Plastics", Dr. Axel von Wiedersperg, CEO, Brueckner Group | ||||
| 10:15 | "EU developments of laws, regulations for packaging/plastics", Olivier Laigre, Director Group External Affairs, Faerch Group | ||||
| 10:35 | "The Dark Art No More: Thermoforming in the Age of AI", Conor Carlin, Clefs Advisory, LLC | ||||
| 10:55 | Coffee break | ||||
| Moderator: Michel Py | |||||
| 11:35 | "(Recycled) Plastics in the new R5", Dr. Gérard Liraut, Renault Group | ||||
| 12:05 | "The brand owners' future perspective on packaging", Thomas Reiner, Berndt und Partner | ||||
| 12:35 | Lunch break | ||||
| HEAVY GAUGE SESSION | THIN GAUGE SESSION | ||||
| Moderator: Claudio Bottos | Moderator: Marek Nikiforov | ||||
| 14:00 | "Best of each World", Panel Discussion USA / Europe, Corporate panelists from Formed Plastics, Self Group, CMS | 14:00 | "Economics of Thermoforming", Dr. Tobias Beiss, ILLIG packaging solutions | ||
| 14:20 | "Simularge’s Thermoforming Digital Twin solution", Dr. Büryan Turan, SIMULARGE | 14:20 | "Pulp & Dry Fiber Update", Corporate panelists from Dr. Tobias Beiss, Illig; Thomas Kreiseder, Kiefel; Anna Altner, Yangi | ||
| 14:40 | „Thermoformed parts in Metso crushing equipment“, Mika Sutinen, Metso | 15:00 | Introduction Roll to Bottle technology by Ublo, Christophe Bouvier, Ublo | ||
| 15:00 | "Recycled plastics / circular economy", Silvia Dottor Electrolux | ||||
| 15:20 | Coffee break | 15:20 | Coffee break | ||
| 15:45 | HEAVY GAUGE SESSION (Sponsors' Presentations) | 15:45 | THIN GAUGE SESSION (Sponsors' Presentations) | ||
| Moderator: Claudio Bottos | Moderator: Marek Nikiforov | ||||
| 15:45 SENOPLAST 15:55 PRIMEX PLASTICS: “Commitment to sustainable processes and practises” 16:05 3A Composites: “DUROLEN® material“ 16:15 IKT STUTTGART: „Investigation of the Twin-Sheet-Thermoforming process, M.Sc. Lars Schmohl 16:25 BATTENFELD-CINCINNATI: „Efficiency That Pays: How Modern Extrusion Lifts Profits - How modern machines turn efficiency into profitability” 16:35 END | 15:45 GTX HANEX PLASTICS 15:55 BATTENFELD-CINCINNATI: “Setting Benchmarks For Thermoforming Applications” 16:05 PERSTORP: “Future-proofing hot food packaging with Akestra™: a high-performance rPET-based innovation for the thin wall packaging value chain.” 16:15 Marbach: „Meet Elmar – Your new Tooling Manager” 16:25 WM THERMOFORMING MACHINES: “Ingenious Simplicity: Why Less Complexity Delivers More Performance” 16:35 END | ||||
| 16:35 | END | 16:35 | END | ||
| EVENING | |||||
| 18:30 | Dinner Reception | Venue: Strasbourg University | |||
| 19:00 | Conference Dinner and Sponsors awarding | ||||
| THURSDAY | MARCH 5th 2026 | Venue: Congress Center | |||
| 8:55 | Opening | 8:55 | Opening | ||
| 9:00 | HEAVY GAUGE SESSION (Sponsors' Presentations) | 9:00 | THIN GAUGE SESSION (Sponsors' Presentations) | ||
| Moderator: Thierry d'Allard | Moderator: Christoph Stoye | ||||
| 09:00 CMS: „ThermoActive: the hidden value behind high-performance thermoforming“ 09:10 TOOLS FACTORY: „ENERGYLINE thermoforming machines - New solutions & Brand development“. 09:20 PLASTICS MACHINERY GROUP 09:30 THERMHEX: „Thermoforming of thermoplastic honeycomb sandwich panels to complex sandwich parts“ 09:40 IKT STUTTGART: „Direct integration of design elements in the thermoforming process”, M.Sc. Dominic Müller 09:50 SELF GROUP: “One-stop-solution: Moulds, Machines, Automation” 10:00 SELF GROUP COMI: “One-stop-solution: Moulds, Machines, Automation” 10:10 SIMULARGE: “Smarter Thermoforming with an AI-Powered Digital Twin” 10:20 GEISS: „Partnership Beyond the Sale“ | 09:00 KIEFEL: „Benchmark in Tilting: Innovation meets Performance” 09:10 CGP EUROPE 09:20 DONGGUAN NIASI PLASTIC MACHINERY 09:30 DELTA ENGINEERING: „Smart Automation Solutions: reducing operating costs without compromising production flexibility & quality” 09:40 STARLINGER VISCOTEC:“Circular Intelligence in rPET” 09:50 YANGI: Dry-formed fiber "packaging" at scale – A complement to thermoforming 10:00 ILLIG PACKAGING SOLUTIONS: „IML-T for Cups and Lids: Latest Advances in ILLIG’s Unique Technology.” 10:10 REIFENHÄUSER "Thin PP - Boost your performance" 10:20 OMV TECHNOLOGIES | ||||
| 10:30 | Coffee break | 10:30 | Coffee break | ||
| 11:00 | HEAVY GAUGE SESSION | 11:00 | THIN GAUGE SESSION | ||
| Moderator: Thierry d'Allard | Moderator: Sven Engelmann | ||||
| 11:00 | "Automotive / Electromobility Case Study ", Thomas Höfels, Senoplast | 11:00 | "Material Update", „From Waste to Food Packaging: rPS with Versalis REFENCE“, Christian Haberreiter, Versalis “PET/RPET”, Walter Turci, Ian Sturges, Coexpan, „Sustainable material for thermoforming that truly performs“, Joona Kontinen, Sulapac | ||
| 11:30 | "The Olympic Game Vehicle", Mauro Tognoni, MODULA | ||||
| 11:50 | „PLASTITRONIC® Technology - A revolution in the thermoforming of printed electronics devices”, Olivier Rodary, PLASTIFORM | 11:45 | "Sustainable Mono-Material Packaging via Thermoforming PET Caps", Dr. Jay Hanan, ORIGIN MATERIALS | ||
| 12:15 | Lunch breack | 12:15 | Lunch breack | ||
| 13:45 | GENERAL SESSION | ||||
| Moderator: Sven Engelmann | |||||
| 13:45 | "Implementing the energy transition in industry using intelligent electricity procurement and energy storage", Dr. Volker Kölln, LIVA Power Management Systems | ||||
| 14:05 | "Empower: Turning Thermoforming Data into Intelligence — AI, Real-Time Insight, and the Future of Performance", Luca Oliverio, WM Thermoforming Machines | ||||
| 14:25 | "plastics.ai: An AI Chatbot for Thermoformers and Beyond", Dr. Mark Smith, Hanser Verlag | ||||
| 14:45 | "European Plastics Regulation: Current Priorities and Forthcoming Developments", Marion Chysclain, POLYVIA - French plastics and composites industry association | ||||
| 15:05 | "Update of AI in Thermoforming", Michel Py, CIFRA | ||||
| 15:20 | Closing remarks by Claudio Bottos, Chair ETD 2026-28 | ||||
| 15:30 | Drinks and raffle | ||||
| 16:00 | END |
Programme subject to change