The UV Days took place for the eleventh time from July 4 to 6 at the headquarters of IST Metz in Nürtingen. The event has grown continuously over the years and was now very successful in its first edition since the Corona pandemic. Around 1,000 participants from 89 countries had registered in advance. The success of UV Days is certainly also due to the fact that the event is more than just an in-house exhibition - in the meantime, the event has developed into a kind of trade show on the subject of printing and surface technology covering the broad spectrum of UV. 35 exhibitors were represented, ranging from printing equipment and sterilization to coating and application equipment manufacturers. According to Managing Director Tim Sterbak, there were more interested parties for an exhibition area than there was space available. This was because the space available at the Nürtingen site was fully utilized without interfering with actual production.

More than 400 visitors were counted on the first day alone, and the second day was similarly positive. Intensive and lively discussions and conversations could be observed in the exhibition areas throughout the day. Overall, the atmosphere was extremely positive and dynamic, and the exhibitors also reported many very constructive discussions. CEO Sterbak reported in an interview that both visitors and exhibitors confirmed to him that they were able to extremely accelerate projects at the event because they were able to discuss open points directly on site with all the contacts involved. A lecture program also provided detailed background information.

Visitors were also able to inspect the new technology campus with LED laboratory. The program included the technical inauguration of the LED LAB and the new UV Technology Campus, which will serve as a research and knowledge platform in the future. For this purpose, a large printing press that had been used for trials was discarded in order to use the space for research and development activities. Even though the decision against the printing press was certainly not taken lightly, also for traditional reasons, Sterbak sees this as a forward-looking decision to considerably expand the possibilities for research and process development. Once the conversion is complete, the Technology Campus will be available for customer visits, training courses and laboratory trials. Visitors were also particularly interested in live demonstrations and a guided tour at the subsidiary eta plus, where visitors were able to gain practical impressions of excimer technology.

Overall, visitors and exhibitors were extremely satisfied with the UV Days. Last but not least, the evening event in the wine village transported the good and constructive mood with delicious offers from the grill as well as tarte flambée and lively folk festival atmosphere into the evening.

Get an impression of the event in our video tour at the UV Days and learn more about the assessment of CEO Tim Sterbak on the current economic developments and strategies of IST Metz, also with regard to regulatory efforts of the EU, for example with regard to the mercury vapor lamp in our interview.