SPI, the plastics industry trade association, announced that the NPE2012 exposition has considerably surpassed the successes of the earlier NPEs.
The event, which was held in Orlando, Florida from April 1 to 5, attracted a large number of participants from outside the U.S. Out of the total number of participants, 26% came from outside the U.S, which is a considerable increase than previous NPEs. One-third of the international audiences were from Latin America. The NPE2012 expo also attracted 1,933 exhibitors and the overall exhibit space totalled to 939,972 sq.ft, which is 23% higher than the NPE2009 space.
In addition, NPE2012 has set a new record for global participation with nearly 40% of the exhibiting firms was from outside the U.S. In the total, 16% of exhibitors were from China, 8% from the Mideast and the rest of Asia and 10% from Europe. The President and CEO of SPI, William R. (Bill) Carteaux, stated that in addition to these data, other factors that contributed to the success of the NPE2012 are the number of plastics processing machines operating on the exhibit floor compared to the year 2009; higher attendance at the conferences and more exciting programs.
Additionally, visitors and exhibitors gave a positive feedback on the event’s new venue in Orlando and supported SPI’s decision to conduct both the 2012 and 2015 NPEs at this site. The NPE2015 expo is scheduled to take place at the Orange County Convention Center located in Orlando from March 22 to 26.