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Advisory Board meets for the first time and begins preparations for K 2028 in Düsseldorf
May 28, 2026 - The inaugural meeting of the Exhibitor Advisory Board has marked the start of preparations for K 2028. The global leading trade fair for the plastics and rubber industry will take place in Düsseldorf from 18 to 25 October 2028. The Advisory Board supports Messe Düsseldorf in the strategic and conceptual development of K and advises it on fundamental issues regarding the focus, programme structure and communication of the exhibition. At the start of the Advisory Board meeting, the committee unanimously elected Dr Axel von Wiedersperg, CEO of Brückner Group SE, as its new Chairman. He succeeds Ulrich Reifenhäuser, who has led the Advisory Board since 2004 and played a key role in shaping K over the past two decades. Dr Axel von Wiedersperg holds a doctorate in law and has been Managing Director of the Brückner Group since 2009. He possesses many years of industry and market knowledge in the plastics and rubber sector, as well as an extensive international network within the industry. He has been a member of the K Exhibitor Advisory Board since 2023 and was therefore already involved in the preparations for K 2025 and the strategic development of the trade fair. In addition, he serves on the board of the VDMA Plastics and Rubber Machinery Association. The meeting focused on a joint review of K 2025, the evaluation of the exhibitor and visitor survey, and an initial outlook on the direction of K 2028. Key themes for the upcoming event were discussed, and the next steps for the strategic development of the world’s leading trade fair were initiated. The K Exhibitor Advisory Board represents the entire spectrum of the trade fair – from machinery and plant engineering through the production of plastics and rubber to their processing. It comprises representatives from the exhibiting industry as well as leading industry associations. The K 2028 Düsseldorf Exhibitor Advisory Board comprises: Marc Gregor Baier Dr Christine Bunte Boris Engelhardt Dr Stefan Engleder Dr Guiscard Glück Manfred Hackl Jochen Hardt Juliane Hehl Thomas Holzer Jan Karnath Thorsten Kühmann Dr Oliver Möllenstädt Eric Schönel Ute Spring Dr Axel von Wiedersperg Dr Sascha Witt Michael Wittmann Düsseldorf will once again become the global meeting place for the plastics and rubber industry at K 2028. Leading international suppliers from the mechanical engineering, raw materials and processing sectors, as well as companies from the plastics recycling sector, are once again expected to attend. Exhibitor registration for K 2028 opens in January 2027. Further information on K 2028 is available at: www.k-online.com. K was first organised by Messe Düsseldorf in 1952 and takes place every three years. The last K in 2025 attracted 3,246 exhibitors from 65 countries across over 176,000 m² of net exhibition space and around 169,000 trade visitors, 73 per cent of whom came from abroad.
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