Simultaneous events of the forest and packing industries were held in Messukeskus in Helsinki in May. The event showed that the industry is looking into the future and that companies are developing themselves in the digitalizing world with sustainability as a top priority. During the three days, the forest industry’s PulPaper, the packing industry’s PacTec and the new Wood & Bioenergy events and their smaller events were visited by more than 9,200 visitors.
Photos: Messukeskus Helsinki
The event saw almost 500 companies ranging from forest industry giants to small start-up businesses. The stands and the programming highlighted the potential of circular economy, new materials, innovative packing methods and IoT, artificial intelligence and augmented reality.
The theme of the renewed PulPaper, looking into the future, and the new cooperation with professionals of the packing and bioenergy sectors sparked a lot of interest, and the number of our conference attendees was almost tripled since the previous event. The companies’ strong faith in the future could be sensed in the event’s positive atmosphere, which one seasoned visitor summarized like this: “PulPaper returned to its roots,” said Antti Lindqvist, CEO of PI.
“We are extremely happy with the new concept of the fair. We launched our easy-to-recycle paperboard products, AEGLE® Barrier Plus and ISLA® Duo, and they sparked immense interest among the visitors, and our presentations on the future Square stage summoned a great crowd. In addition to our own stand, Kotkamills was featured on many of our partners’ stands, so our company and our products were significantly and positively visible during the fair. The highlight of the fair was the excursion to our factory in Kotka,” says Johanna Mäkelä, Communications Manager at Kotkamills.
Focus on future’s potential
Finland is a leader of the forest industry, constantly developing new wood-based products in addition to the traditional paper and pulp industry. The theme of the event, “Visit tomorrow today,” refers to new innovations and technologies that the forest industry can harness to evolve in the digitalizing world.
Significant development is constantly taking place in Finland, and the event succeeded in showing the many possibilities of the wood-based industry. The “Visit tomorrow today” theme was visible in the programming and on the stands. On the Sulzer stand, we showed that our passion is to be a part of the transformation, together with others, says Reijo Vesala, Business Development Manager at Sulzer.
“The Finnish packing industry is thriving, and PacTec Helsinki has established itself as an important meeting place for the packing industry. The quality programme and innovations presented by the exhibitors offered a versatile glance into the present and future topics of the field. The event atmosphere was great and we received plenty of positive feedback from both visitors and exhibitors,” says Antro Säilä, CEO of the Finnish Packaging Association.
The simultaneous events were accompanied for the first time by the Wood and Bioenergy event. The new event was well received by the industry.
“When the entire field is brought together, it offers added value to everyone and we also receive visitors from our neighboring countries. All in all, the visitors were very distinguished, and the fair was visited by key personnel like CEOs and production managers. Our stand was also visited by many Russian visitors,” says Hannu Voutilainen, Managing Director of Suomen Linkki Sawmill Machinery Ltd.
The next PacTec in 2020, PulPaper in 2022
The next forest cluster event is planned together with professionals for spring 2020. The next PulPaper is organized in four years in 2022. The PacTec fair is organized in March 2020 together with FoodTec, a food industry event, Sign, Print & Pack, a graphic industry event, and Gastro Helsinki, a food and restaurant event. Packing, food and graphic industries have significant synergy benefits that will profit the fair visitors and exhibitors during the renewed fair. A strong combination of simultaneous events will offer new possibilities for all industries.
PulPaper, PacTec and Wood & Bioenergy were organized in Messukeskus in Helsinki on 29–31 May 2018. The events included the exhibition, seminars and other programming, evening program and visits to the Metsä Group bioproduct mill in Äänekoski and the Kotkamills board mill.
The next trade fair in Messukeskus is the chemical safety seminar Helsinki Chemicals Forum on 14–15 June.
