Innovative ‘Super Sunday’ Will Lead Off an Expanded, Dramatically Different NPE That Will Take Place at a New Venue, a New Time of Year, and a New Schedule

September 27, 2011: The REGISTRATION button for NPE2012 is now “live” at www.npe.org, enabling plastics professionals worldwide to sign on for a plastics exposition that will be bigger, better, and markedly different compared with previous NPEs, it was announced today by SPI: The Plastics Industry Trade Association, which produces the triennial NPE.

Instead of the traditional NPE dates in late June, NPE2012 will occur on April 1-5, 2012, will start on a Sunday for the first time, and will take place in Orlando, Florida, U.S.A., after 40 years in Chicago.

The event-filled “Super Sunday” on April 1 will consist of 14 hours of back-to-back activities, including technical sessions, panel discussions, networking events, an industry golf tournament, and an evening Opening Gala, featuring the Plastics Hall of Fame dinner and induction ceremony, with award presentations to industry icons who have made outstanding contributions to plastics throughout their careers.

By clicking on the REGISTRATION button at www.npe.org, attendees can select from various registration packages and fees for the NPE trade show and co-located events such as conferences. For international visitors who require a visa to enter the U.S., registration includes the option of requesting an official invitation letter from SPI, which must be presented for visa interviews at U.S. embassies and consulates.

Besides registering, visitors at www.npe.org can now make online hotel reservations for their trip to NPE2012 through a link to the official housing contractor, Expovision.

Broad-Based NPE2012 Includes a Wealth of Exhibits, Events, and Programs

Visitors at www.npe.org can also obtain information about all events and programs making up NPE2012.

“We have designed NPE2012 to be a multi-faceted experience, with activities, discoveries, and opportunities enough to satisfy the needs of anyone who works in the plastics industry or has a need to know about plastics,” said Gene Sanders, SPI’s senior vice president of trade shows and conferences. “The scope of our education program alone makes NPE2012 unique among plastics expositions”

Chief among the events and programs making up NPE2012 are:

● World-scale NPE trade show, with 2,000 exhibiting companies on 1-million sq.ft. (93,000 sq.m). Exhibit space sold thus far well surpasses the space occupied at NPE2009, according to SPI, which expects to completely fill both giant halls at Orlando’s Orange County Convention Center (OCCC). As a result of the economic and logistical advantages of the new venue, many exhibitors have selected larger booths than at NPE2009 or plan to operate more machinery on the exhibit floor.

● Hundreds of conference presentations. Key educational programs will include SPE ANTEC® 2012, the worlds largest technical conference; SPI’s Business of Plastics conference, focusing on timely topics of broad industry interest; and the Latin American Seminar en Español, produced by publishing company Publicar-B2Bportales.

● 2nd International Plastics Design Competition, which will soon be open to entries from designers, processors, moldmakers, and OEMs from around the world with applications in any end use sector. During NPE2012, product entries will be on display and winners will be honored in a special program.

● Technology pavilions. At least a dozen multi-exhibitor pavilions will be dedicated to specific industry sectors like elastomers and thermoforming, plus emerging technologies like bioplastics and nanocomposites.

● Special programs. Some examples are a “Plastics in Sports” program with displays and demonstrations around the show; a Technology Theater presenting product demonstrations and exhibitor seminars; and “Recycling @ NPE2012,” a program for reclaiming all processing scrap and consumer waste generated on-site and demonstrating the uses to which such materials can be put.

Founded in 1937, SPI is the plastics industry trade association representing the third largest manufacturing industry in the United States. SPI's member companies represent the entire plastics industry supply chain, including processors, machinery and equipment manufacturers and raw materials suppliers. The U.S. plastics industry employs 1.1 million workers and provides nearly $379 billion in annual shipments.

Source: Martino Communications / NPE2012