Powtech is the world’s number one trade fair for processing, analysis and handling of powder and bulk solids. From September 30 until October 2, 2014, more than 700 exhibitors from over 25 countries will showcase their ranges of mechanical processing technology. Around another 250 exhibitors will present the latest developments in sterile production processes for pharmaceuticals, food and cosmetics at the parallel Technopharm show.
The Powtech exhibitors will present technical solutions for all flows of powders, granules and bulk solids within a company, starting with solutions for incoming goods with all options for emptying big-bags, containers, silos and sacks. They also showcase current developments in pneumatic and mechanical conveying such as bucket conveyors, screw conveyors, hoppers, vibrators and belt conveyors as well as vacuum and pressure conveying systems. In addition, more than 200 Powtech exhibitors will introduce innovations and improvements in filling and bagging systems, palletisers, big-bag filling equipment and other solutions for packing or filling powders and granules. “But Powtech is much more than just a trade fair for the individual stages of mechanical processing”, says Willy Viethen, Director Exhibitions at NürnbergMesse. “In Nuremberg, designers and operators of equipment for the powder and bulk solids processing industry will also find a lot of innovative solutions for linking up these process stages.”
Automation is a key component
Powtech 2014 simultaneously includes an overview of the entire range of automation technology available with more than 200 exhibitors of automation solutions. The show therefore accurately reflects the extent to which automation technology is already part and parcel of conventional mechanical processing. Nowadays, it is hard to imagine operating any materials processing plant without recipe management, batch control, material flow data logging and reliable end-to-end traceability.
For designers and above all operators of powder and granulated material plants, environmental protection, explosion and fire protection, emission control and occupational safety are always a top priority. Dust explosions, workplace concentrations, filter monitoring and particle separation are just some of the key issues that represent a daily challenge for plant operators in the materials processing industry. Around 80 exhibitors will specifically focus on innovations relating to safety issues.
Analysis becomes part of the process
Optimised process management, and of course the pressure to maintain quality at low cost, is the main motivation to provide particle analysis as an actual part of a process, or at least nearby. That need has sparked demand for analytical equipment integrated directly into processes. Only such inline and online systems can improve an understanding of the process and make it possible to use setpoints for automation. Direct observation of characteristics such as particle size distribution in powders makes processes much more efficient and faster to monitor and control. Waste is minimised and energy is utilised to the best advantage because steps like grinding need to be continued only as long as is absolutely neces-sary. There is also no need to prepare and transport samples. Almost one out of every three exhibitors at Powtech offers analytical equipment. That high figure mirrors the great importance of analysis in processing powders and bulk solids.
Production of pharmaceuticals
Under the slogan “Pharma. Manufacturing. Excellence” Technopharm will show the latest in the production of solid, semi-solid and liquid pharmaceuticals. Validation, packaging and anti-counterfeiting are only a few of the current topics that the roughly 250 exhibitors will present to operators and planners of production facilities in the pharmaceutical industry. Many solutions with pharmaceutical relevance will likewise be on display from the more than 700 exhibitors at the parallel Powtech.
The APV (International Association for Pharmaceutical Technology), which is also suppo-rting the trade show as an honorary sponsor, is hard at work on an exclusive supporting programme for Technopharm 2014. The highlights of the forums in Hall 6 include one on serial numbering for pharmaceutical manufacturers, a lecture series by the German Packaging Institute, a report on orodispersible forms of medications and a user report on hot melt extrusion from BASF SE. This year again, there will be an expert forum with specialised presentations on all aspects of planning, building and operating clean and ultraclean rooms.
In addition, a presentation series by the technical publisher Konradin Verlag at the Powtech forum in hall 4 will provide an overview of the technologies currently available to transport sensitive bulk solids from A to B carefully and without segregation. This forum begins on the first day at 1 p.m.
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