Portugal will become the world capital of the mould industry next October. Marinha Grande and Oliveira de Azemeis – the two main national centres of this sector – are hosting the 11th edition of Mould Week, which takes place from October 1st to the 4th and is counting on hundreds of participants, many of whom come from several parts of the Globe, from the East to the American Continent, as well as Europe. This event is the result, once again, of a joint organisation between the National Association for the Mould Industry (CEFAMOL), the Technology Centre for the Mould Industry, Special Tools, and Plastic (CENTIMFE), the Engineering & Tooling cluster, and the OPEN enterprise incubator.
With the confirmed presence of the Minister of Economic Affairs, Manuel Caldeira Cabral, at the official opening ceremony, Mould Week comprises seminars, conferences, and workshops, with a strong national and international participation. All the various areas of this sector are coming together, from research to production. Innovation and technological development focusing on a future perspective will be the hot topics with a wide range of actions throughout the week allowing for the sharing and discussion of ideas and projects, which will enable contact between worldwide consortia and companies. The presence and participation of the Secretaries of State for the Industry, Development, and Cohesion also stand out on October 2nd along with Mr. Nuno Mangas – IAPMEI President – at the official dinner held on October 3rd.
This event contributes, on one hand, to the promotion of collective brand ‘Engineering & Tooling from Portugal’ showing the integrated skills of this cluster, which range from design to the end product, and on the other hand, to refreshing knowledge and trend analysis of entrepreneurs and technical staff.
Among the best in the world
The companies within this cluster live in continuous improvement, in a technological process, and on a processing level embracing all that involves change and integration within the scope of ‘Industry 4.0’. Portuguese producers wish to be among the best in the world, as they have done so far and will continue to do.
Portugal is the eighth greatest producer in the world, in the mould industry, and the third in Europe. The value of exports in this sector has been growing remarkably over the past years: this growth has surrounded 103% since 2010. In 2017, exports reached a record of over 675 million Euros. The main markets for Portuguese moulds have been Spain (22%), Germany (21%), France (12%), the Czech Republic (6%), and Poland (5%). This group was followed by the United States, Mexico, and the United Kingdom. The top ten target markets were complete with Slovakia and Hungary.
But these were not the only targeted countries: national mould producers have exported their productions to 93 different markets (countries) showing the international and global dimensions of this industry. The sector currently comprises about five hundred companies, most of which are located in two regions (Marinha Grande and Oliveira de Azemeis) and incorporate about 10 500 employees.
With the 11th edition of Mould Week, the organisation has created a showcase of the best products in Portugal and around the world in terms of innovation and product research and development for all the sector’s participants.
This initiative branches out to many events, out of which the ‘2018 Portugal Moulds’ Conference, RPD2018 (Rapid Product Development), and the Brokerage Event (which includes ‘B2B Moulds 2018’) stand out among other Technical Seminars, thematic sessions, and ‘Open Houses’ for mould and plastic companies.
The events:
RPD
Rapid Product Development (RPD) opens Mould Week 2018, at CENTIMFE, in Marinha Grande, which takes place in the afternoon of the first day and morning of the second day. This is a technical and scientific meeting where new industrial trends will be presented and new ideas and concepts will be discussed – Circular Economy, Intelligent Production, Design for Manufacturing, and others – determining the business environment. It counts on the presence of researchers from many nationalities, among which are German research centres, Fraunhofer, and companies like BMW, Navigator, Nissei Plastics, Bosch, Embraer, and NOS.
Conference on ‘Portugal Moulds’
The International ‘2018 Portugal Moulds’ Conference – organised by CEFAMOL – closes Mould Week on the morning of October 4th and is a place for discussing and reflecting on the new market trends. This event has been – for the past editions – the one that attracts most of the sector's entrepreneurs due to the relevance of its subjects, which invariably lead to participants exchanging opinions.
This year will be no exception. We will focus on subjects such as ‘Internationalisation and Competitiveness’, ‘Factories of the future and the challenges of global economy’, ‘Plastic and the Auto Industry in the USA’, and ‘Trends and Challenges in the Mould Industry’. In addition to national speakers – such as the head of AICEP, Luis Castro Henriques –, Peter Droell and Jurgen Tiedje from the European Commission’s DG Research & Innovation will also be present, among others.
Brokerage Event
Brokerage – strictly connected to RPD –, which will take place in the afternoon of the second day of the event at the CENTIMFE premises, is a forum oriented towards the promotion of bilateral meetings as well as the presentation and sharing of opportunities to apply to programmes supporting the sector's projects. In addition to the industry's players – companies, technology providers, technological centres, researchers, and universities –, those responsible for the Eureka programme will also be present here. This event provides companies with the opportunity to build partnerships within the scope of taking part in community programmes.
Technical Seminars
Technical seminars take place at the same time as these initiatives from Monday to Wednesday at Loureiro’s Business Centre Hosting Area in Oliveira de Azemeis. The subjects have been chosen due to their importance for the industry and they are particularly related to the technologies that bring up an improvement in the performance and competitiveness of national mould producers.
Mould Week 2018 has become a unique opportunity to be in touch with new technological trends in the industry without leaving the country, just like additional areas, providing new national and international partnerships, the development and introduction to products and methodologies, and the analysis of trends enabling the support of strategies that will differentiate the companies taking part.
