Issue 138 2018-07-04 Suscríbete

NPE 2018, A Taiwanese Perspective

【NPE 2018 Booths Sold Out 14 Months In Advance! Taiwanese Manufacturers Spread Across Both Halls】

The 2018 NPE exhibition attracted nearly 2200 exhibitors. The conference sold out every space available and space even had to be extended to meeting rooms. Many exhibitors missed the opportunity to register and missed the exhibition. The West Hall is divided into Hall A ~ F, with the major companies mainly congregating between halls A to D. Some of the companies that could be found in this area included: Engel, Netstal, Erema, Milacron, Arburg, etc.

【Learning about Plastics and Rubber technology and Trumps New U.S. Manufacturing Policy】

This year was the third time that NPE was held in Orlando. During the opening ceremony, the PRM-Taiwan team learned that the next three NPE shows will also be held in Orlando. Although visitor numbers are not as many as companies would have liked, there is no doubt that the NPE is one of the leading fair shows when it comes to the introduction of new technologies. This time PLASTICS had arranged a series of courses in the various pavilions that allowed the audience to learn the techniques and knowledge about plastics and rubber processing and uses. There was also a focus on educating the people that work in plastics and the magazine "This is Plastics", was released with the goal of getting people in the industry to talk about the benefits and uses of plastics with the rest of the world, which hopefully will get more and more people interested in this sector. However, some people think that getting more people involved in plastics could be damaging to certain parts of the industry, with more and more people lobbying against plastics such as bottles and bags. Hopefully though, it will lead to more innovation within companies and a better planet for the future. Did a focus on U.S. manufacturing first, promoted by President Trump after taking office, directly affect this exhibition? Some Chinese manufacturers will be locked out of the industry, but companies with factories in Taiwan and the rest of the world, see this as an opportunity for the future. This was also one of the motivations for many manufacturers to participate in this exhibition, as there could be more opportunities on the horizon. The PRM-Taiwan team will continue to report our findings during the next three years leading up to the next exhibition, bringing back first-hand news to Taiwanese manufacturers!

Among them, American domestic brand, Milacron, this year again occupied the largest booth area in the show. Exhibiting a dazzling array of machines, including the injection molding machines, hot runners, mold technologies and more, really showcasing their ambition and influence in the North American Market.

The Taiwanese Pavilion was split into two areas the West Hall and the South Hall. The Taiwanese Pavilion manufacturers assigned to the West Pavilion were registered by the Machinery Association and are arranged in Hall F. However, due to the floor structure of the hall F, companies here were not able to displaylarge scale machinery As a result, the Taiwanese manufacturers in Hall F mainly used smaller machines and static exhibitions, because of the attraction of the huge stands in the rest of the west building coupled with the sheer size of the .west building, many manufacturers felt that this time visitor numbers to their booths in particular were down.

Taiwanese manufacturers in the South Pavilion were classified as having registered through the Taiwan Trade Association or direct application. The Taiwanese manufacturers' booths registered by the trade associations were all located in the central area of the exhibition hall, and the manufacturers registered with theorganiser were scattered throughout the exhibition centre depending on the type of their machinery. This way visitors were quickly able to find the machinery that interested them.