Europe's converting industry enters the final stages of preparation for the ICE 2003 trade fair, set Munich, Germany, November 18-20. Leading buyers, specifiers, technology developers and business managers will converge on the MOC Exhibition Ctr. to meet the world´s leading suppliers of paper, film and foil converting machinery, materials and services at the third International Converting Exhibition and the first ICE Technical Congress.

ICE 2003 represents an important stepping stone in establishing the event as Europe's stand-alone complete converting event. ICE event director Michael Boyle comments, "Despite difficult economic circumstances and some uncertainty surrounding trade fairs in general, I'm proud to announce that ©10 §8 ICE will showcase over 120 leading suppliers from the fields of extrusion, coating, laminating, metallizing, drying, curing, slitter/rewinding and diecutting." The fair covers more than 32,000 sq ft of display space.

For the first time, there will also be an educational element to ICE, with the "Introduction to Converting" Congress Session. Three other sessions include, "Self-Adhesive Tape and Film Converting," "Film Surface Treatment" and "The Converting, Coating and Laminating Value Chain."

ICE sales manager Franz Hermann praised the collective spirit of exhibiting companies. "Over the last 12 months confidence in ICE has grown steadily, and exhibitors have increasingly been encouraging each other to work together for the common good," he says. "ICE makes economic sense and that is why it has a great future."

More info: www.ice-x.com