"Overall, we are very satisfied with how Achema Pulse went, and we have also received a lot of positive feedback from exhibitors and participants," says Dr. Björn Mathes, Deputy Managing Director of Dechema Ausstellungs-GmbH, summing up the experience of the last few weeks. "Our aim was to offer the chemical and pharmaceutical industry worldwide the opportunity for intensive exchange and to provide impetus for current trends in the process industry. We succeeded in this." This is evidenced by the high number of interactions (chats, video calls, downloads and visits to company profiles), which totaled around 125,000. A total of 77,692 visits were counted in the virtual lecture halls.

The Achema Pulse concept pursued two objectives: In order to offer participants enough time to take in the information provided by exhibitors and to get in touch with experts worldwide, the platform was open for an entire month. During this period, participants were able to contact exhibitors and each other via chat or video call and initiate discussions. At the same time, participants had the opportunity to discuss the latest trends with decision-makers and experts from all over the world at a joint event. This took place on two live days on June 15 and 16. A total of around 460 hours of presentations, discussions and workshops were streamed on the live stages, in the virtual congress and in the exhibitor channels. "The live stages ensured that we were able to create a completely different atmosphere than at a purely virtual event," says Dr. Thomas Scheuring, Managing Director of Dechema Ausstellungs-GmbH.

A total of 960 exhibitors from 38 countries took part in Achema Pulse; 55% of the exhibitors came from outside Germany, with China, Italy, France, Switzerland, the USA and the UK making up the largest contingents. The 15,000 registered participants, 55% of whom also came from outside Germany, came from 121 countries.

Achema Pulse has shown that a virtual event can be a good complement to Achema as a physical trade fair, explains Björn Mathes. Dechema-Ausstellungs-GmbH is therefore planning to further develop the format as an additional offer between the Achema dates.

The next Achema will take place in Frankfurt from April 4 to 8, 2022.