Articles

• TPE/rubber pavilion a big draw for mid-size material manufacturers
  This year's NPE will feature a first-time TPE/rubber pavilion sponsored by SPI and the Rubber Manufacturers Assn. The sold-out pavilion features 26 TPE and thermoset rubber exhibitors, most of whom have not exhibited at NPE before. Jeff Senich, business development manager for Advanced Polymer Alloys (Wilmington, DE), one of the pavilion exhibitors, filled in a few details during a recent interview.


• Equipment maintenance set to be key topic at NPE for saving costs
  With the rising prices of raw materials, combined with the need for more productivity to remain globally competitive, processors are seeing a greater need to adequately maintain their processing equipment with as little downtime as possible. Vocational education provider Paulson Training Programs (Chester, CT) and resin trading and toll processing services provider Shuman Plastics (Buffalo, NY) focus attention on this subject in a training seminar from 4-5 p.m. on Tuesday, June 20 at the NPE in the South Building, level 4, room 5403b.


• NPE's Student Summit, pointing towards plastics future
  NPE 2006 (June 19-23, McCormick Place, Chicago) will not only offer visitors a glimpse of the technologies of the future, but visitors could also speak with the potential future leaders of plastics thanks to show organizer, the Society of the Plastics Industry's (SPI; Washington DC) Student Summit for high school and college students.


• The price of flight to Chicago
  If you’re even thinking about attending NPE 2006, a good start is to get to Chicago. We’re keeping tabs on airfares for you. This list shows the cost (U.S. dollars) of a round-trip ticket from several major cities to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, as of Friday, May 5 (don’t forget that you can fly into Midway Airport as well). Our source is travelocity.com. Dates include a Saturday night stay in the Windy City. Check back here each week and we’ll keep updating the numbers for you.


• Breakfast briefing: Doing Business in Central and Eastern Europe
  Attend an NPE breakfast event dedicated to the top challenge facing the North American plastics industry - expanding export markets to include growth regions such as Central and Eastern Europe. Hear from experts who have successfully conducted business in this region and are eager to share their knowledge. Titled "Doing business in Central and Eastern Europe," the breakfast will be held Tuesday, June 20, 2006; 8:00-9:30 a.m.