High-tech solutions at IPF Japan 2014

The five-day event is scheduled to take place on 28 October to 1 November 2014 at Makuhari Messe in Chiba City, outside Tokyo. According to its organisers, the International Plastic Fair Association, this year’s edition of IPF has 764 exhibitors occupying 2,238 booths spanning 54,000sq.m. of space.

The show gathers an impressive number of big players in Japan’s industrial sector as they present their high-tech solutions to today’s various industries. On exhibit are raw materials & additives, extruders, blow moulding machines, thermoforming machines, robots and automation solutions, auxiliary equipment, parts and components of machines, printers, welders and other equipment for plastic processing, moulds & dies, recycling and waste treatment equipment, semi-finished and finished products, and other manufacturing/processing equipment and services.  

The conferences and other featured exhibits this year are aimed at updating professionals and visitors on the latest trends in plastic materials and manufacturing processes.  “The Present and Future of Composites” is a featured exhibit in cooperation with the Nagoya University National Composite Center and aims to provide information on the trends in the world’s cutting-edge composite technology. In relation to this, the Lexus LFA will also be on exhibit. Lexus LFA is a real “supercar” which uses parts made of carbon fibre reinforced plastics (CFRP). Seminars mostly focus on maximising the benefits derived from new materials and latest technologies and machineries, and sponsored by leading companies in the industries, such as Union Valve and Fitting, Getac Technology, Cytec Industries Japan, Sunwa Trading, Multiplas, Toyo Machinery & Metal, Shimaozu, amongst others.

Industries on the growth path

Japan’s plastics industry serves many fast-rising sectors with automotive, packaging and electronics amongst them.  These industries demand high quality raw materials, advanced technologies and machineries to turn out products meeting global standards.

Canadean, a market research firm, reported that the Japanese plastic packaging industry is posting rapid growth, with flexible and rigid plastics packaging demand projected to rise by 6.9 billion packs between 2012 and 2017. The rapid development of packaging is attributed to Japanese consumers’ preference for quality packaging and excellent presentation of products. According to Canadean, Japanese consumers need to be “convinced that packaging is flawless with particular regards to detail, colour, and labeling.”  Canadean also said demand for rigid plastic will grow as it replaces glass in food and beauty products packaging. 

Japan’s highly popular automotive brands are leading the way to growth in demand for plastic materials used in the production of automotive parts. This sector has been pushing demand for automotive plastics such as polypropylene, polyurethanes, polycarbonates, high density polyethylene, polymethyl methacrylate, Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, and composites. Leading Japanese automotive manufacturers have started to increasingly use plastics for mass reduction of automotive parts as they target weight reduction for greater fuel efficiency.  Plastic materials offer high performance properties, such as resistance, thermal stability, impact strength and scratch resistance, which meet the requirements of today’s automobile manufacturers.  

The Japanese electronics industry boasts of having the world’s largest consumer electronics manufacturers.  Despite competition posed by companies in Korea and Taiwan, Japanese consumer electronics manufacturers continue to lead. Leading Japanese electronic companies include Sony, Pioneer, Mitsubishi Electric, Casio, Olympus, Panasonic, Sharp, Toshiba and many others.  

These industries have created demand for plastic raw materials and plastic processing machinery with increasing use of plastic parts and components. As a result, Japan’s plastics industry has been as dynamic as the other sectors, with innovative technologies to suit the demands of its customers. The plastics processing machinery sector which turns out injection moulding machines, extrusion machines, is one of the world’s largest, selling hi-tech and high-end machinery targeted at both local and international markets. The country produces more than 12,000 injection mould machines each year. Strong recovery of the global automotive industry, as well as rising demand from emerging markets in Asia and other regions are factors that provide opportunities for growth for Japanese machinery manufacturers. 

The future of Japanese machinery manufacturers is bright as domestic companies branch out to build more factories outside Japan to remain competitive. A growing number of big players have started to look at China and other ASEAN countries as manufacturing bases by building their factories in these areas, or acquiring other companies in the target market.