In 2025, ZELLCHEMING – the Association of Pulp and Paper Chemists and Engineers – looks back on 120 years of association history. At the same time the ZELLCHEMING-Expo celebrates its 75th anniversary. The two anniversaries have been combined – to celebrate 195 years in style!
Expo above last year’s level
The North Exhibition Hall at the Rhein-Main Congress Center (RMCC) in Wiesbaden is expected to be fully booked again this year. “Bookings for exhibition space have been above last year’s level since January. By mid-March, 90 exhibitors had already confirmed their participation,” said Petra Hanke, Managing Director of ZELLCHEMING Service GmbH. “We are also expecting an increase in the number of visitors, as the association is, for example, paying the Expo entrance fee for its members in this anniversary year, so that they can enjoy the trade fair and the congress free of charge!”
Panel Discussion Artificial Intelligence in the Paper Industry
The program has been finalized, and the congress will start with a topic at the pulse of time: “Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the Pulp and Paper Industry – Future Opportunities and Challenges!” Dr.-Ing. Frank Meltzer, Director Technical Sales & Marketing, Mercer Pulp Sales and Vice Chairman of the ZELLCHEMING Association (his election as the new Chairman is scheduled for July 2), will moderate the panel together with Prof. Dr. Helga Zollner-Croll, Professor for Biogenic Fibers, Vice Dean of the Munich University of Applied Sciences, who has been leading the ZELLCHEMING Association for almost two years.
Representatives of the European Commission and the IPAI (Platform for Applied Artificial Intelligence in Europe, based in Heilbronn) are expected to take the stage. Maximilian Heindl (CEO Progroup), Dr. Jörg Padberg (Manager Digital Transformation Koehler Innovative Solutions) and Dr. Arne Klaska (Head of Group Digital Operations WEPA) have confirmed their participation as representatives of the paper industry. After Dr. Stephan Lock, Head of the Regional Representation for North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and Saarland of the European Commission, has outlined the political framework conditions in his keynote speech, they will explain their individual company strategies for dealing with AI in individual presentations. Tim Roder, Head of Business Development at IPAI, will highlight the role that innovation systems can play in making SMEs fit for the future. This sets the stage for an interesting exchange.
“Many people appreciate AI’s ability to perform repetitive tasks, whether at work or in everyday life. AI helps companies analyze large amounts of data and gain valuable insights that enable informed business decisions. With this comes the need to consider ethical, privacy and security issues. Our discussion will focus on the balance between the joy of innovation and responsible action,” says Frank Meltzer.
The afternoon will feature contributions from Modellfabrik Papier: Managing Director Peter Bekaert and Networking Manager Dr. Dominic Laaf will report on the status and transfer of innovation, followed by Steffen Flaischlen, Group Manager FOMOP, who will give an insight into the research work. The first day of the Expo will end with a networking evening and exhibitors’ parties in the exhibition hall.
ZELLCHEMING Insights: Focus on Sustainability
July 2 will start with the ZELLCHEMING General Assembly. From 12:15 pm, the stage will belong to Women4Paper! Vera Strauch will give the Women4Paper Keynote 2025. She has been working in the construction industry for more than 10 years and became managing director of a medium-sized construction supplier at the age of less than 30. In 2018, Strauch founded her own company: the Female Leadership Academy, which rethinks professional development in a new and more digital way and puts feminist leadership into practice. The title of her presentation, which was developed together with representatives of the network, is: “Own your voice: Leadership Tools for Setting Boundaries with Clarity and Empathy”.
In the afternoon, there will be a premiere: the session “Sustainability in Focus – ZELLCHEMING Insights”, filled with topics from the technical committees. “Our goal is to increase the visibility of the association’s work in the technical committees and thus arouse interest in active participation. At the same time, we want to bring the topic of ‘sustainability’ more into the foreground,” explains Helga Zollner-Croll, who was instrumental in driving this initiative forward during her time as president of the association.
The 195th anniversary celebrations will be crowned by the ZELLCHEMING Celebration Gala on the evening of the second day of the fair. The motto: “Shaping the future together! The Terrace Hall of the RMCC will be the elegant setting for this unique event, which will pay tribute to the vitality, creativity and openness to the world of the association, its members and this unique industry: Leading personalities will lead through the evening, describing the milestones of the association’s development with a personal touch – and at the end, young paper engineers will present, together with the new chairman, a cross-generational idea for the association’s path in the coming years!
Looking ahead
The third day of the Expo will be dedicated to the ZELLCHEMING Career Day: The program will start with the presentation of the ZELLCHEMING Young Talent Award 2025. The award winners will give short keynote speeches about their careers and interesting tasks in paper production. Insights into the world of research into the production of pulp and paper-based products will be provided by the Science Flash, in which young scientists will present their exciting projects. A key component of the Career Day is the involvement of the many young professionals expected to attend. Using the World Café method, which allows for a creative exchange in a group format, their wishes and needs will be identified at eye level and compiled directly.
“This year more than ever, it’s worth coming to ZELLCHEMING-Expo,” says Helga Zollner-Croll. “Nobody should miss this very special anniversary event!”
The program is available online at the following link: https://events.talque.com/Zellcheming-2025/en/YQMSAF0dy5Qnn9V5Fikx
Tickets for the Expo and Celebration Gala are available at the Ticket Shop: https://pretix.eu/zellcheming/expo2025/
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