The convention is one the premier platforms for designers in the plastic industry to introduce innovations, products and solutions that will directly affect the future of the packaging. Many of the exhibitors are focused on offering plastic processors a wider range of functional and value-added products.

More than 1,500 international representatives will be at the four-day convention, which begins on October 17, 2006. Fakuma estimates that 79 per cent of participants cater directly to plastic processors, while the rest deal with mould makers and machinery.

The Fakuma conference focuses primarily on injection moulding and extrusion, but will expand this year to host entries from cast resin producers for the first time.

BASF, the German-based plastics and chemical company, has already announced that its exhibit will present its thermoplastic specialties, polyurethanes and pigments together for the first time.

Engineers at BASF have reportedly come up with an ultra-transparent packaging that eliminates the yellow tinge of styrene-acrylonitrile copolymer plastic. The group is also supplementing this innovation with 20,000 different colour shades and 50 surface textures.

The 25-year-old Fakuma organization expects more than 40,000 people from 40 countries will attend the conference.