Date: 22^nd – 26^th June, 2009

Venue: McCormick Place, Chicago, Illinois

Country: USA

Event Organizer: Society of the Plastics Industry Inc.

Contact Email ID: npe@npe.org

Event Website: www.npe.org

Area (sq feet): 1 million square feet (93,000 square meters)

NPE2009, The International Plastics Showcase,  will showcase a broad array of innovations to make participation even more exciting and profitable for exhibitors, attendees and publishers alike. In addition to new technology awards competitions and pavilions on the show floor, SPI is partnering with the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) to present a technical conference at NPE2009 with hundreds of peer-reviewed, never-before-published papers.

NPE2009, to be held between 22-26 June, 2009, at Chicago's McCormick Place where 75,000 plastics professionals from 120 countries will come together to join in a global conversation on all things plastic!

‘Technology and Specialty Pavilions’ will highlight the latest in emerging and new technologies, as well as BPSA single-use, fluoropolymers, thermoforming and more.

Spanning 1 million square feet, NPE2009 exhibits will showcase the latest manufacturing trends and technologies driving the growth of these key markets:
• Automotive
• Medical
• Consumer Products
• Electronics
• Transportation
• Packaging
• Agriculture/Construction/Lawn

‘International Plastics Design Competition’ debuts at NPE2009. Designers and manufacturers of components and finished products will have the opportunity to display their most innovative achievements before tens of thousands of plastics professionals.

The competition is being organised by SPI's Alliance for Plastics Processors (APP), which has issued a Call for Applicants. The APP has organised previous design competitions, but this 2009 competition will be the first open to products in any end-use market, as well as to entrants from any country in the world.

All competing entries will be critiqued by a distinguished panel of judges during NPE2009. All winning entries will be announced during the Plastics Hall of Fame induction banquet on 22 June, 2009.

For the first time, NPE2009 co-locates with the Society of Plastics Engineers’ ANTEC™ 2009, the world’s largest plastics technical conference, Gardner Publications’ MoldMaking Expo™ 2009 conference and exposition, SPI’s International Plastics Design Competition and the Federation of Societies for Coatings Technology (FSCT) Executive Summit. With these co-locations, NPE2009 is truly a multi-faceted plastics industry event providing attendees with the most comprehensive educational program ever offered at an international plastics trade show.

Event Profile
All in one week, under one roof, you'll have access to the people, products and processes you need to catalyze business:

• Source 2,000 plastics suppliers exhibiting on 1 million net square feet
• Conduct business with 75,000 professionals from 120 countries
• Learn from 900 technical presentations and peer-reviewed papers
• Hear from high-profile industry leaders in keynote sessions
• Hone skills in business development and training workshops
• Meet with leading contract and captive OEMs, from the packaging, bottling, automotive, air, space and  medical industries
• Participate in the plastic industry's first International Plastics Design Competition
• Discover new and emerging technologies
• Participate in industry sustainability discussions
• Honor Plastics Hall of Fame inductees

Visitor's Profile
No other manufacturing industry directly affects as many sectors of the economy as plastics. If you represent plastics technologies, equipment, supplies and end markets, or do business with these areas, you can't afford to miss NPE2009:
• Engineering/Design
• Manufacturing
• OEMs
• General Management/Administration
• Sales/Marketing
• Research/Development
• Purchasing
• Quality Control
• Education/Training
• Students

Concurrent Events
ANTEC 2009
ANTEC is the single largest technical conference for the plastics industry in the world, featuring forums and sessions for working engineers, R&D scientists, technicians, technical sales people, technical support personnel, academia and managers. During ANTEC@NPE2009, you can learn from 800 technical presentations and peer-reviewed papers, hear about previously unpublished research and findings, discuss advances in technology and much more.

Buisness of Plastics
SPI’s Business of Plastics Conference, produced by leaders in the plastics industry, will provide an innovative education agenda to encourage industry growth and new market development, outline the best business management practices, identify today's downstream consumer demands, open doors to the international market and add sustainable philosophy to your business strategy.

International Plastics design Competition
Designers and manufacturers of components and finished products will display their most innovative achievements before tens of thousands of plastics professionals, June 22-26, at NPE2009, the world’s largest plastics conference, exposition and technology exchange. The 2009 International Plastics Design Competition, hosted by SPI’s Alliance of Plastics Processors, will be the first competition open to any product, any end-use market, and any country. Located in the new West Hall of McCormick Place, the International Plastics Design Competition will be the focal point of Technology Central@NPE2009 and feature new design categories and awards—from bio-process systems, innovative packaging applications and medical products to sustainability, nanotechnology, energy efficiency and bio-based materials.

Participants will benefit from dramatically increased exposure with their designs on display before tens of thousands of plastics industry professionals at NPE. Entrants will also receive extensive pre-, onsite and post-event press coverage. Winning companies will be invited to a special press breakfast with members of the plastics industry trade press.

Moldmaking Expo 2009
The MoldMaking Expo 2009 Technical Conference provides an original educational program that identifies trends and opportunities; presents new and tested products, equipment and services; introduces and reinforces proven business practices; and, inspires industry growth.
This year's Technical Conference will begin the morning of Tuesday, June 23 and run through Thursday, June 25, 2009. Presentations will feature an end-user application approach (back by popular demand) within case study, panel, workshop and roundtable discussion formats that focus on three key components to mold shop success:
1. Strategies for Cost-Cutting and Productivity Improvement
2. Technology Innovation and Application
3. Business and Management Issues

NPCA/FSCT Plastic Substrates’ Coatings Conference
The FSCT has announced a new Advancement in Coatings Series program that focuses on coatings for plastics called Plastic Substrates' Coatings Conference at NPE2009. This program will be held June 23 in conjunction with NPE2009, the International Plastics Showcase, International Plastics Showcase in Chicago.
This program will offer a unique half-day track for professionals who specify and use coatings on plastics, coating manufacturers, and raw materials suppliers. Topics will include UV, test methods, fluoropolymers, Sol-gel, and TPO.

PET Strategies Plus Conference
Leading off PET Strategies+ in an “open invitation” keynote, at which all NPE2009 attendees are welcome to attend, will be Coca-Cola North America Senior Vice President of Innovation & Development, Nilang Patel. Patel’s keynote will be held at the Technology Theatre at McCormick Place. In the anchor position, serving as an exclamation point on the power-packed program, Procter & Gamble’s Senior Director of Modeling and Simulation, Tom Lange, will lead attendees through a ‘Sim-Sational’ plastics packaging modeling and testing simulation experience.
Packaging Strategies was exclusively selected by the Society of the Plastics Industry to produce the PET Strategies+ event in tandem with the National Plastics Expo (NPE2009) at McCormick Place in Chicago the week of June 22. PET Strategies+ will be held June 23 – 24.

Seminars in Spanish by Tecnología del Plástico and Conversión
Led by experts and experienced entrepreneurs, these Spanish-language sessions focus on "Trends, opportunities and technologies to improve the competitiveness of the plastics industry in the Latin American market," and explore the benefits of new technologies and tools that are increasing the region's production flow.

Time Compression Conference & Expo (TC EXPO)
From June 22 to June 26 at Chicago’s McCormick Place, the TC Conference & Expo will bring together an unparalleled array of technology and experts all dedicated to the proposition that in today’s market, there are the quick. . .and the dead. Co-located with NPE 2009: The International Plastics Showcase and the MoldMaking Expo, the inaugural TC Expo and Conference is an event where you’ll be able to see, hear, and learn about both emerging and established processes, hardware, materials, and tools in design, software, prototyping, tooling, and direct manufacturing.

In addition, the two-day conference kicks off Wednesday, June 24 with a keynote by Todd Grimm, president of T. A. Grimm & Associates Inc., who explores the next generation of technologies from additive fabrication to 3D imaging that will reduce time-to-market. Dr. Max Ruffo, with the Advanced Manufacturing Research Center at Boeing, wraps up the conference Thursday by outlining the main steps and barriers to implementing rapid manufacturing as experienced by the aerospace leader.

Last Event Highlights

View of the Grand Concourse of McCormick Place on the second day of NPE 2006.

Polycarbonate roof dome, windshield, side windows, and seat shells were among many innovations in the “zaZen” concept car shown by Bayer Material Science during NPE 2006.

General Enquiry:
Contact SPI at  +1.202.974.5235  or e-mail npe@plasticsindustry.org