Exhibitors Report a Focused, Purchasing-Oriented Attitude on the Part of Visitors, Suggesting the Return of Overall Business Growth in Near Future

CHICAGO, June 27, 2003: The timing may not have been the best, but the outcome was excellent. This is how The Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc. (SPI) summed up the NPE 2003 exposition (June 23-27) as it came to a close today at Chicago’s McCormick Place. SPI is the founder and sponsor of the triennial NPE plastics trade show.

“Although the prolonged economic stagnation that currently afflicts much of the world caused a decline in registrations for NPE 2003, exhibitors overwhelmingly reported that those who did attend were decision-makers,” said Donald K. Duncan, president of SPI. “These visitors came in a buying frame of mind, which indicates the start of an upward trend for the industry.”

By the end of the show, total participation at NPE 2003 was 63,238 representing a 29.8%% decline from the registration record set by NPE 2000. “By other measures of trade show success, however, NPE 2003 gave strong evidence that the decades-long expansion in the size and global impact of NPE continues,” said Duncan, citing these developments:

• Near-record number of exhibitors. With 1,932 exhibiting companies, NPE 2003 was just 4% below the record set by NPE 2000 and 12% ahead of the previous record set by NPE 1997. The 1,018,000 sq. ft. (94,575 m2) of exhibit space taken by NPE 2003 exhibitors was 10.9% less than in 2,000.

• Greatest international involvement. The number of exhibitors that came directly from outside the U.S. accounted for 30% of all exhibitors at NPE 2003, as against 24.5% in 2000. The number of home countries for these companies was 36. Over 17% of those registered, or 10,930 individuals, came from outside the U.S., coming from 109 different countries.

Besides the sizeable number of exhibitors and visitors from other countries, three other factors cited by NPE 2003 chairman H. Gunther Hoyt contributed to the global importance of NPE 2003: 1) many U.S. exhibitors were actually subsidiaries of foreign-based firms; 2) a growing number of U.S.-based corporations operate multinationally; and 3) also increasingly common are American companies that export on a systematic basis.

“While international participation in NPE first became significant many years ago,” Hoyt said, “NPE 2003 demonstrated conclusively that international commerce is no longer just one dimension of NPE but its very essence. The future of this exposition is a truly global one in which NPE is the crossroads linking the plastics industries of Europe, Asia, and the Americas.”

Exhibitors Cite ‘High Quality’ and Buying Orientation of Booth Visitors There was widespread agreement among exhibitors that visitors included a high proportion of decision-makers that came to the show with purchasing on their minds, according to Jordan L. Morgenstern, SPI’s vice president of trade shows. “Because of the high level of interest on the part of visitors, many exhibitors said they had all they could do to ensure that visitors looking to make contacts and ask questions received proper attention,” Morgenstern said. “We received reports from many exhibitors of sales of equipment closed right on the show floor and very high levels of qualified leads. As a result, the exhibitors we spoke with were very enthusiastic about their show experience.”

Based on such input, Morgenstern drew this conclusion: “While the weak economy caused many plastics processing companies to cut back on the number of people that they would send to NPE 2003, those who did come were the ones who directly influence purchases of materials, equipment, and services, or even have the final say on such transactions. The fact that these key visitors clearly had business on their minds is the best indication that we have had that a plastics industry recovery is on the way.”

SPI’s next show is Plastics USA 2004, which will take place September 28-30, 2004. The next NPE will occur on June 19-23, 2006. Both shows will be at McCormick Place.

### NPE 2003, the premiere international plastics exposition, took place from June 23 to 27 at Chicago’s McCormick Place, North America’s largest exhibition complex. Founded and sponsored by The Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc. (SPI), the triennial show was the 24th NPE since 1946.

Founded in 1937, The Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc. is the trade association representing one of the largest manufacturing industries in the United States. SPI’s 1,300 members represent the entire plastics industry supply chain, including processors, machinery and equipment manufacturers, and raw material suppliers. The U.S. plastics industry employs 1.5 million workers and provides more than $320-billion in annual shipments. For more information visit SPI on the Web at www.plasticsindustry.org.

POSITIVE FEEDBACK ON NPE 2003 A Sampling of Reports from Exhibitors Provided during and after the Show

• Asahi Kasei. “Asahi Kasei had a successful NPE. The turnout to our booth was excellent. We’ve had a number of quality leads and were successful in increasing our brand awareness. Overall we’re happy with the show this year.”—Jim West, Business Manager, Asahi Thermofil

• Beaumont Runner Technologies. “NPE 2003 exceeded our expectations in overall attendance and the quality of leads we received. We are a small, growing company, and NPE was the ideal place to showcase our new products to the industry.”—David A. Hoffman, Technical Sales Manager

• CRG Logics. “This is the first NPE that we have participated in as an exhibitor, and we felt the quality of leads and the traffic in our booth was very satisfactory.”—Carl Gillig, President

• Davis-Standard. “Our new Super Blue line of extruders proved to be a very successful offering at NPE. We booked multiple extruders, a sheet system, a cast film laboratory line, and other systems in total exceeding $6.0-million, all contributing to the best month in the last year and a half. Our booth was very well attended, and the inquiry level was similar to that of NPE 2000.”—Robert Ackley, President

• Dri-Air Industries. “After three years of rough economic conditions, it was refreshing to hear positive comments from the molders and their plans to add new equipment.”—Charles Sears, President

• EPCO. “We were pessimistic going into the show, but we have surpassed the number of qualified leads we had planned for.”—Steve Schroeder, President

• Future Design. “We have been doing this for the past 25 years. This year we found the traffic was down but the quality of the people attending much better. We think decision makers were there and not tire kickers. In the past we would discount about 75% as people who would not buy or not be in a position to make decisions. With 25% down in traffic, we think we had only 50% tire kickers.”—Robert Krycki, President

• Hosokawa Alpine American. “For the type of capital equipment we’re selling, buyers are either business owners, CEOs, or presidents, and they are here.”—David Nunes, President

• Micro Surface Corp. “We went into the NPE show with low expectations and left very satisfied with the quality and quantity of leads. Customers are ready to invest again.”—Edward Fabiszak, President

• Midland Consultants. “The show was a great success for us. We had a number of companies stop at our plastics recruiting booth that were looking to hire top talent in the plastics industry. We also had a lot of job seekers drop off their resumes.”—Ronald L. Eliason, Vice President & General Manager

• Milacron. “This show has been great for us. The traffic through our booth has exceeded our best expectations.”—Ron Brown, Chairman

• Neu Dynamics. “I thought the show went well for us. We had a prime booth location in the North Hall with a high amount of visibility. Our attendance was lower than expected; however, the quality of the leads was quite impressive.”—Albert Azzari, National Sales Manager

• Pelletron. “The number and quality of leads we received at NPE 2003 definitely exceeded our expectations. There was a lot of excitement and energy surrounding the show and all the exhibitors. Everybody’s hard work paid off. We plan on taking advantage of the momentum in coming months.”—Peggy Paulson, Executive Vice President

• PolyOne. “The ‘casual observer’ factor is down. The people we’ve talked to are on point—they know what they’re looking for.”—David Honeycutt, Marketing Communications Manager

• Transducers Direct. “Transducers Direct had a great NPE! We received over 350 qualified leads from true decision makers. This will equate to well over $500,000 in sales. We even received inquiries on Milacron’s Baby Plast machine, which we had in our booth.”—Rob Matthes, President

• Van Dorn Demag. "We feel that NPE 2003 was a great success, not only in terms of the machines Van Dorn Demag sold at the show but also in the attendees' mindset regarding the future. Attendance was what we expected and the quality of the leads we captured this year were of a higher level than in 2000."—Bill Carteaux, President & CEO

Show week is June 23-27 at Chicago’s McCormick Place. "We are on track to exceed 2,000 exhibitors by the start of the show" says Jordan L. Morgenstern, SPI’s vice president of trade shows, who notes that the record thus far, set at NPE 2000, is 2,014. “In light of current world and economic events, the good possibility that we will set a new record for exhibitors attests to the underlying strength and growth potential of the global plastics industry. The prospect is for a super show.”

Morgenstern says he expects net exhibit space to total “well in excess of a million square feet” and attendance to exceed 90,000. “NPE 2003 will be an eminently international event. One-fourth of its exhibitors will come from outside the U.S., while many others will be either U.S. subsidiaries of companies based elsewhere or U.S.-based companies that play major roles in the world market. Visitors will come from more than 100 countries around the world.”

Programs developed to benefit visitors to NPE 2003 include:

“The NPE 2003 Conference will cover topics chosen because of their current importance to business and engineering decision makers at plastics processing companies,” says Lesley Kyle, SPE’s senior event manager. “Less technically detailed than papers delivered at ANTEC (the Annual Technical Conference sponsored by SPE), the presentations at NPE will serve as management briefings for those with a need to know about emerging technologies, pressing issues, or business trends that affect strategic planning.”

The agenda for the NPE 2003 Conference is still in development and will be disclosed before the end of 2002, according to Tom Conklin, SPE’s senior manager of training. “We anticipate about 60 presentations, each 30 to 45 minutes long, on timely topics in such areas as process innovations, new materials, and business management.”

In contrast to the focus of the Conference on briefings dealing with “hot” subjects, the SPE Seminars will be intense one- and two-day programs providing basic and advanced training in plastics material, process, and design technologies.

During the show itself, the International Center at McCormick Place will provide a multilingual staff, U.S. Department of Commerce international trade experts to help visitors make contacts with American firms, a comfortable lounge, private conference rooms, a currency exchange, and international phone and fax lines. Separate meeting rooms will be available for delegations from specific countries.