Tecna - The curtain falls on a successful 2022 show

The 4-day exhibition dedicated to technologies and supplies for the ceramic industry confirmed once again its world leadership. with final results beyond expectations.

Innovation, sustainability and digitalisation. These are the three main keywords that bring together the range of offerings showcased by the over 320 brands exhibiting that determined the success of Tecna 2022 - the international exhibition dedicated to technologies and supplies for the ceramic and brick industries, organised at the Rimini exhibition centre by Acimac (association of Italian manufacturers of machinery and equipment for ceramics) and IEG (Italian Exhibition Group).

The show was also characterised by a high level of international attendance, with 45% of the trade members at the event in Rimini arriving from over 100 countries around the world, confirming the event´s leading global status. The areas most represented include Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and South East Asia, not to mention the USA, India, Iran, and Europe.

A special programme was reserved for 130 highly profiled top buyers who - with the support of ITA, the Italian Trade Agency - participated in over 1,060 meetings with exhibiting companies.

A delegation of government investors and ceramics manufacturers from 11 sub-Saharan African countries also attended the fair for the first time.

Among the new attractions, particularly worthy of mention was the TECNA FUTURE LAB; an exhibition area dedicated to start-ups within the industry, the lab offered a packed calendar of events focusing on digitalisation, green solutions, sustainability and logistics, as well as artificial intelligence applied to plants and systems. The primary objective of the Lab was to show off the latest ideas and input concerning Industry 4.0, to ensure continuity with the innovative process already embarked on by the manufacturing industry.

Another aspect that should be highlighted was the predominance of high-profile visitors. During the show´s four days, senior managers from major Italian and international ceramics businesses could be seen working their way round the halls at the new-layout exhibition, confirming Tecna as an essential event to keep up with innovations in design aesthetics and process techniques. Major names in the sanitaryware, brick, and decoration industries also found that the wide range of innovative technologies on display at TECNA more than met their expectations.

´It´s been four years since the last show, - commented chair of IEG Lorenzo Cagnoni - and our return to the market has been marked by a totally new event with revamped look and content. Accessible via two entrances, the new layout achieved its goal of making the fair a gathering dedicated to innovation, with themed itineraries helping visitors make their way round while offering exhibitors greater visibility and a common identity; a packed calendar of events, meanwhile, explored themes such as sustainability in ceramics, the current energy supply issues, and the new frontiers of digitalisation in manufacturing. Themes that are hardwired into the Italian Exhibition Group. The challenge for those organising a fair today is increasingly that of reflecting what is happening in the industry it is aimed at. This is a fast-evolving industry and the decision to change from Tecnargilla to Tecna shows the desire to understand this new dimension and its importance and to seize the opportunities it offers for business and networking´.

Conceived as an evolution from Tecnargilla - which was a world-leading event for supplies for the ceramics and brick industry - Tecna has successfully used a new exhibition format to keep up with the changes that are revolutionising technology, raw materials, and decorations for tiling and other covering materials in interior design. It was not by chance that the claim ´How to make it´ was used to sum up the new format; conveying the ambitious goal of creating a comprehensive collection of offerings that would attract both Italian and international exhibitors and visitors.

« Despite the difficult period we are experiencing - concluded ACIMAC chair Paolo Lamberti - the prevailing mood today is enthusiastic. Coming back after four years and seeing customers again, creating opportunities and business has been fantastic and has given us hope for the future. Our industry, and the mechanical engineering/ceramics industry in Italy in particular, has once again shown its vitality and its innovative spirit. Tecna has proven to the market that we are ready to address the major issues that will determine how the industry will evolve, including: energy saving and efficiency, circular economy, just-in-time production and mass customisation, advanced logistics, and big data ».

The next date for Tecna is set for 2024.