Record-breaking NPE2018 pre-draw results reflect industry optimism

SPI: The Plastics Industry Trade Association announced that the Pre-Draw process for securing, in advance, floor space at NPE2018: The Plastics Show set a new record this year. SPI produces NPE2018, the triennial plastics trade show scheduled for May 7-11, 2018 in Orlando, Fla. The record-setting results of the Pre-Draw, in which long-time exhibitors get their pick of spaces on the NPE2018 expo floor, indicate that members of the plastics industry are optimistic about the industry’s future.

The Pre-Draw space assignments ended on July 29. Overall, 81 SPI member companies selected a record 243,700 square feet of exhibit space during the event, an 11 percent or 27,000 square-foot increase over NPE2015, which previously held the record for the biggest Pre-Draw in the more than 80-year history of NPE.

“NPE2015 set several records for square footage and international participation which made it an event for the ages,” said SPI President and CEO William Carteaux. “Every three years, when NPE takes place, it has a measurable impact on the economy. The fact that more plastics companies than ever before are taking up more floor space, and doing so this early in the game, is an indication that the plastics industry is optimistic about its future prospects for growth on a global scale.”

SPI hosted the NPE2018 Pre-Draw Lottery on June 7, 2016 at its Washington, D.C. office. The event determined the order by which qualifying companies—SPI member companies with a 15-show history or higher (and their affiliates)—could select their exhibit space for NPE2018. Applications for the full Space Draw for SPI member companies with less than a 15-show history, and all non-SPI member companies, will be available starting on September 6, 2016 at www.NPE.org and are due on November 18, 2016. The full Space Draw Lottery will be held March 20-22, 2017, at Rosen Shingle Creek in Orlando, Fla.

NPE is one of the largest trade shows in the world and the most important trade show for the global plastics industry, attracting more than 65,000 attendees and more than 2,000 exhibiting companies each year. NPE2018:

The Plastics Show will feature: the Bottle Zone, an end-to-end exhibit on the NPE show floor for companies and brand owners in the beverage and bottling industries; Re|focus Recycling Summit which is SPI’s annual recycling summit gathers the entire plastics industry supply chain together to find new ways to reduce waste, increase the use of recycled content and increase the recyclability of plastics. It will co-locate with NPE in 2018; the 3D/4D Technology Zone, a popular pavilion from NPE2015, NPE3D focused on emerging technologies in 3D-printing and additive manufacturing. At NPE2018, this pavilion expands to include 4D printing technologies, which enable companies to manufacture items that can reshape, repair and assemble themselves over time.