Middle East companies active in the region's growing plastics and elastomers industry are likely to show interest in a premier international event Ñ NPE 2003 Ñ due to be held in the US next June.
The organisers of NPE 2003 have promised to put on display a broad range of technologies adopted by the world's major suppliers in the plastics and elastomers sector. The triennial event, which will take place at McCormick Place Exhibition Centre in Chicago from June 23 to 27 (www.npe.org) has been sponsored by the Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI) and will be the 24th NPE since 1946.
Founded in 1937, the SPI is the trade association representing one of the largest manufacturing industries in the US.
Some 90,000 visitors from 100 countries will be present including major suppliers of auxiliary equipment; machine and mould components; resins and compounds; additives, fillers and reinforcements; and mould-making services. There will also be extensive exhibitor representation in the following categories: custom processing; e-commerce, fabricating and assembly; industry media; post-extrusion; site selection, specialised services, specialised software; testing and quality and web converting.
NPE 2003 will provide visitors with two distinctly different educational opportunities, one of them being the NPE 2003 conference, which will cover topics chosen because of their current importance to decision makers at plastics processing companies. In partnership with SPI, the Society of Plastics Engineers will organise the conference. The other educational opportunity is the SPE seminars. Requiring payment by participants these intense one- and two-day seminars will provide professional training in plastic material, process and design technologies.
"Exhibits at NPE 2003 will reflect the entire range of industrial and consumer applications of plastics and provide an advance look at product innovations that will improve the lives of people everywhere," said a statement issued by the organisers.
Typical examples from past NPEs range from design concepts for tomorrow's automobiles or kitchen counters to the latest commercial breakthroughs in critical medical devices, micro-precise electronic connectors, stylish cosmetics containers, power tool housings, optical storage media, home insulation, automated toys, metal-replacing gears and rubber-replacing gaskets.
Other developments on display throughout the show will include application-tailored formulations from raw material suppliers and processing systems designed specifically for new and emerging markets.
Fully represented will be broad, multifaceted markets such as appliances, automotive, building and construction, electrical and electronics, medical and packaging.
In addition, NPE 2003 exhibitors will present new plastics developments for market sectors ranging from aerospace and agriculture to footwear, luggage, plumbing and cables.
"While serving as a trade show for all the world's plastics industries, NPE 2003 will provide a unique opportunity for companies seeking to build business in the giant marketplace of the Americas," the organisers said.
From Alaska to Brazil and from Newfoundland to Chile, this vast region is a market accounting for one-third of the world's annual resin consumption. Far more than any other plastics exposition, NPE attracts extensive participation by exhibitors and visitors from throughout the Americas.
Annual plastics-industry shipments by the US, Canada and Mexico - the three signatories of the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) - amount to more than $375 billion. In the US and Canada, plastics continues to grow faster than manufacturing as a whole and in Latin America, where per capita consumption of plastics is smaller, growth rates over the long term are even greater. In terms of the six major thermoplastic resins, Latin America already consumes more than five per cent of the global total and is growing in importance as a source of resin production capacity.
There are more than 20,000 plastics plants in the US alone. Most are operated by companies that process raw material (resin) into plastic products. Others are chiefly for the production or distribution of raw materials, additives, processing and related equipment, and tooling (moulds and dies). The US accounts for about one-fourth of the world consumption of plastics resins.
SPI's 1,500 members represent the entire plastics industry supply chain including processors, machinery and equipment manufacturers, and raw material suppliers.
SPI founded NPE in 1946 as the National Plastics Exposition. Subsequently it changed the official name of the show to NPE to reflect the international makeup of the event.
