It has been agreed by a lot of people that this edition has been the best so far, at least along this century. Lots of new products, designs and all of them below a new sustainability umbrella that is the new flagship of the industry.
More than 90,000 participants has translated into a new record, by growing close to 10% the number of visitors in CEVISAMA compared to last year.
Internationalization has also been a key parameter, supported by the high amount of foreign visitors, who had a clear business vision of this event. As an example, half of total visitors were from Europe – mainly from France, Germany and UK, but also from Italy – what meant a change in the existing trend, as Italians have never been too present in CEVISAMA.
LARGE, LARGER, HUGE.
If there is a common trend in the market today, followed by most of the exhibitors, is the presence of large tiles, up to 1600x4800 mm
The manufacturing of such big slabs requires high quality raw materials and also, eventually, the use of some additives that help along the process.
These huge sizes are also allowing companies to offer new application fields for such slabs apart from the typical flooring. They are trying now to access a much more aesthetical solution for façades, shopping malls and even into the kitchen, as a replacement for standard countertop.
New solutions could also be observed in the extruded floor tile and extruded façade tile industries, as big sizes are becoming more and more a reality. This gives them the chance of presenting new solutions to customers’ demands.
NEW AESTHETICAL SOLUTIONS
Wood, stone and concrete surfaces have been a recurring inspiration for designers, but now we can see how different textures, volumes, details appear, matching the existing decorative elements that we have in our own habitats.
INDUSTRY 4.0
Full integration along manufacturing and sales processes has been one of the main market demands for decades. Right now, with all of the technology implementation in the plants, it is not a dream anymore. With Internet of Things processes can now be all integrated, automated and focused on one thing: customers.
It is also quite noticeable how Marketing has also been moving from static websites and catalogues to interactive sites, where customers decide what to see and also how do they want to interact with tile manufacturers.
Digitalization is not only affecting to process control and integration, but it is also affecting to the way design and fashion can be applied to tile manufacturing process. High Definition printing heads have permitted decorations like this one:
New applications, decorative solutions, like the ones getting the Alfa de Oro prizes, show how the market is generating new solutions for market demands, including environmental care as one of the most remarkable topics, both from process optimization, like water-based inks from Torrecid, or catalytic inks from Ferro.
FUTURE
CEVISAMA 2019 will put its dates in advance, and it will be celebrated from January 28th to February 1st 2019.
How will participants surprise us? We will have to visit next year event to be updated, although it is very clear that sustainable and interconnected industry has come to stay with us for a long time.
