The LASER World of PHOTONICS project team is delighted with the good start to the registration phase for exhibitors. After the first weeks the exhibition space already booked is at the level as it was at the same point for the last very successful LASER World of PHOTONICS. That’s considering that the companies are currently dealing with the massive impact of the crisis triggered by the coronavirus. “The photonics industry is experiencing one of its worst declines in revenue in 2020 in decades. According to a survey by the German industry association SPECTARIS and OPTECNET, a decline in revenue of 20 percent on average over the previous year is expected for the medium-sized German photonics companies,” says SPECTARIS Managing Director Jörg Mayer. “Since photonics continues, however, to be a key element in almost all areas of manufacturing, dynamic growth in photonics is expected again as the economy rebounds. The LASER World of PHOTONICS trade fair is the ideal meeting place for our member companies to step up their business relationships along the value chain.”
Because photonics is an indispensable element of many innovations, developments and inventions from the industry are helping to drive forward progress in large parts of the economy. “Even though it’s now already 60 years since the laser was invented, its significance for developing new technologies and innovations is as great as ever,” as Thomas Fehn, Head of Sales & Service at TRUMPF Lasertechnik, underscores. “As a leading laser manufacturer, TRUMPF is also ideally positioned for the time after the coronavirus crisis. After all, anyone who wants to shape the future shouldn’t shrink back from investments in innovative products. That’s especially true for industries such as electromobility, semiconductors or medical technology. LASER World of PHOTONICS offers us an ideal opportunity to demonstrate our innovative strength to a wide international audience.”
Prof. Constantin Häfner, Head of the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT, also stresses the importance of photonics for society: “Photonics is one of the key technologies for tackling industrial and social challenges – and LASER World of PHOTONICS offers an international showcase for the expertise and innovative capability of this industry.” Prof. Häfner says that the Fraunhofer ILT has been using the LASER trade fair for several decades to present the range of its newest developments and findings to the international expert audience.
Reinhard Pfeiffer, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Management of Messe München, sums up: “Companies and institutions are pinning their hopes on an economic recovery also with LASER World of PHOTONICS 2021, which pleases us and spurs us on. We will do everything we can to once again give our customers a unique trade fair experience, no matter what the conditions are in June 2021. The world’s leading trade fair can be an important milestone on the path out of the crisis.”
The next LASER World of PHOTONICS will be held from June 21 to 24, 2021 at the Messe München Exhibition Center, and the next World of Photonics Congress from June 20 to 24, 2021
Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT
