The ACHEMA conference is the leading international exhibition on chemical-apparatus engineering, closely connected with the epochal developments of chemical and process engineering. At the moment it is most timely to think about new opportunities of development. Large-scale plant engineering and general plant construction has experienced considerable improvement over the past decades, and the effects of these changes are particularly perceptible in the economic sector of German apparatus engineering. Economic pressures have given an additional impetus to a considerable shrinking process. Chemical apparatus engineering will have to focus on two main pillars in the near future: highly qualified standard and innovative products. Especially the latter must be developed in close interaction with chemical engineering in order to put the hardware required for new technologies and process strategies on the market. This article names the important fields of current general technical progress, showing that the main thrust is directed toward an elevated level of product quality that can be achieved through apparatus engineering. Such superior product properties are one important means to achieve higher profitability.