May, 2026
This is a repeating eventMay 7, 2029 9:00 am
interpack
Event Details
interpack
07. – 13. May 2026 | Düsseldorf, Germany
Official Website: https://www.interpack.com
The profound strategic misjudgment at interpack is viewing it as a catalog of faster packaging machines. This overlooks its definitive role as the global arena where the conflicting imperatives of brand marketing, operational efficiency, and regulatory/sustainability compliance are reconciled through technology. Brand owners and production directors attend not to buy individual machines, but to architect complete, future-proof production systems that balance irresistible shelf appeal with unyielding requirements for food safety, material reduction, and end-of-life recyclability. Success hinges on presenting your solution as the critical integrator that transforms these complex, often contradictory demands into a reliable, profitable, and compliant packaging process.
Strategic Snapshot
interpack is the unparalleled global summit for packaging technology and process engineering, functioning as the triennial crucible where material science, mechanical innovation, and digitalization converge to set the strategic direction for the entire global consumer goods supply chain.
Why This Fair Matters in Germany’s Exhibition Ecosystem
As the undisputed world-leading trade fair, interpack’s triennial cycle in Düsseldorf creates a gravitational pull that defines global industry standards. Its location in Germany, the world’s foremost exporter of packaging machinery, provides an unassailable credibility platform rooted in precision engineering and systematic innovation. It attracts C-suite and technical leadership from global FMCG, pharmaceutical, and confectionery giants who are making generational capital investments. Validation here is not merely a sales opportunity; it is a global endorsement of a technology’s maturity and its alignment with the complex, evolving landscape of global regulations and consumer expectations.
Who This Fair Is For — and Who Should Skip It
Ideal for:
- System integrators and machinery builders capable of delivering complete, digitally integrated lines that optimize total cost of ownership (TCO) and agility for high-product-mix production.
- Material and packaging solution providers with robust, data-backed narratives on circularity, recyclability, and compliance with global Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes.
- Technology enablers for hyper-personalization, smart packaging (connected packs), and agile changeover that address the shift from mass production to mass customization.
- Specialists in solving acute, cross-industry pain points like food waste reduction through modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) or ensuring absolute integrity for pharmaceutical cold chains.
Not ideal for:
- Suppliers of standalone, non-integratable components or generic automation without a clear value proposition for the specific hygiene, speed, and flexibility demands of packaging.
- Companies with incremental innovations that do not address the fundamental strategic pressures of sustainability, digital traceability, or line flexibility.
- Exhibitors unprepared for multi-year sales cycles, complex global compliance discussions, and the expectation of providing lifecycle performance guarantees for multi-million euro lines.
- Brands focused solely on packaging design aesthetics without command of the downstream production and sustainability implications.
The 3–5 Day Moment vs. the 365-Day Reality
interpack provides a concentrated, global stage for unveiling technological roadmaps and forging initial partnerships that will define the next triennium. This moment of maximum industry attention is critical for entering the long-list for monumental CAPEX projects.
The strategic rupture occurs in the “system integration and performance realization chasm.” A machine performs flawlessly in a controlled hall, but the supplier cannot orchestrate its seamless integration into a symphony of other machines, material handling systems, and plant-wide software. For a global brand, a packaging line is a mission-critical asset; its overall effectiveness dictates market responsiveness and profitability. A vendor’s inability to provide global support, deep process expertise, and data-driven optimization throughout the line’s 15-20 year lifespan reveals a fatal lack of strategic partnership capability.
Thus, the true value is not in machine demonstrations, but in demonstrating a proven governance model for co-creating and sustaining a high-performance packaging ecosystem anywhere in the world.
Strategic Next Step
Before committing to exhibit, conduct a ruthless audit of your ability to engage as a strategic partner in multi-year, global system projects. For a framework on establishing this essential role as a perennial solution architect, review the perspective in our analysis of trade fair visibility in Germany.
Explore the Ecosystem
A practical checklist to prepare for the scale, depth, and global expectations of the world’s premier packaging technology fair
Contextualize interpack within the overarching schedule of German industrial and manufacturing trade fairs
Strategic FAQs for Exhibitors
How does a machinery builder transition from selling machine speed to selling “line agility” and “total operational effectiveness”?
By quantifying the cost of changeover downtime and minor stops. Demonstrate how your design enables recipe-based changeovers in minutes, not hours. Provide data on overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) from installed lines, highlighting uptime and first-pass yield. Your value proposition must evolve from “we fill 1,000 bottles/minute” to “we enable you to run 50 different SKUs in a shift with less than 5% non-productive time.”
For a material or packaging solution provider, what is the critical error in discussing “sustainability”?
Focusing solely on the pack’s end-of-life without addressing its performance in existing high-speed filling and sealing lines. You must provide comprehensive runnability data: friction coefficients, sealing performance at high speeds, compatibility with standard detection systems. The most sustainable pack is useless if it causes a 20% drop in line efficiency. Present a holistic view that marries circularity with uncompromised machinability.
How should a technology provider address the growing demand for track-and-trace and anti-counterfeiting in packaging?
Integrate it as a native, value-adding function of the packaging process, not an add-on inspection step. Demonstrate how your system can apply unique codes (e.g., QR, digital watermark) at high speed, verify them in-line, and seamlessly link this data to enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. Frame it as an enabler of supply chain transparency, consumer engagement, and brand protection, not just a regulatory compliance cost.
Why is demonstrating global lifecycle support and service more important than a marginal technology advantage at interpack?
Because a packaging line is a 24/7, mission-critical asset often located in remote markets. Buyers are purchasing decades of operational reliability. Your ability to provide guaranteed response times, local spare parts stocking, and remote predictive maintenance capabilities from a global network is a primary risk mitigator. It often outweighs a slight technical edge from a competitor with a weaker service footprint.
How can a provider of digital/IoT solutions avoid being perceived as just another data silo in the packaging hall?
By showcasing pre-built integrations with major machine builders’ platforms and common industrial IoT frameworks. Focus on solving specific, high-cost problems: predictive maintenance for critical wear parts, energy consumption optimization, or real-time quality deviation alerts. Your dashboard should show actionable insights that lead to immediate decisions, not just more graphs. Prove you speak the language of production, not just IT.
