More than 5,220 attendees from 45 countries traveled to Novi, Michigan, to meet and do business at the world’s largest technical foam event. Paul Bergad, President of Bergad Specialty Foams & Composites, commented, “We come to Foam Expo because we’re actually able to open up new markets that we have never dreamed of before. The number of people that have come by our booth has been absolutely amazing.”
The show floor was buzzing as 355 exhibitors displayed the very latest products and technologies covering the entire industry supply chain, from raw materials and chemicals, to fabricating, converting, testing and recycling. Robb McMahan, CEO of GelPro, summed up the mood among the exhibiting companies: “The show’s been fantastic for us – really high traffic and qualified leads coming through. It looks like we’re going to do some business on the first day.”
Throughout the expo, industry heavyweights including ESCO, FXi and Nitto Automotive, to name just a few, displayed their latest state-of-the-art products to an audience of high-level engineers and executives from the automotive, aerospace, construction, medical, packaging, and sports and leisure industries. Attendees held responsibility for designing, specifying, purchasing, manufacturing and supplying materials, products and equipment at Apple, Nike, Ford, Toyota, BASF, Bose, Siemens, Evonik, Honeywell, Toyota and Amazon. “The attendees know exactly what they’re looking for, and there are a lot of decision makers,” commented Sevki Ergun of Edge-Sweets.
This year’s show saw the return of the highly interactive two-track conference, which featured a wide range of manufacturing and application presentations. The show kicked off with the ‘Leadership Panel’, where delegates heard Lear, Armacell and General Plastics get stuck into topics including emerging markets and the wonderful world of additive manufacturing. ‘The Great VOC Trade-Off’ made waves on Day 2, with new perspectives on changing regulation from Ford, Dow and BASF. The final day of the conference zoomed in on sustainability, with the ‘Bio-based Materials’ session sharing some of the freshest innovations of 2019. When asked what sustainability meant to him, Dan Healey of Sealed Air replied, “When price, performance and environmental impact are in equilibrium.”
The demos in the Product Showcase brought to life the very latest innovations, solutions and developments in foam materials and manufacturing technologies. Highlights included Runi’s SK200 screw compactor for densifying expanded polystyrene waste, a range of HyPUR-cel polyurethane foams from Rubberlite, and Magnum’s A-600 double-coasted permanent acrylic adhesive tape.
Countless new business connections were created by Foam Expo’s all-new B2B Matchmaking service, which enabled targeted pre-scheduled meetings. Connecting the industry’s leading suppliers with senior buyers, the B2B service was a hit from the get-go!
With a reputation to uphold as the industry’s premier meeting place, Foam Expo 2019 didn’t disappoint. At the exclusive networking drinks receptions at the end of days 1 and 2, senior executives and technical leaders from across the entire technical foam manufacturing supply chain took advantage of the relaxed, after-hours atmosphere to cement the many business relationships created or reaffirmed during the show.
Foam Expo – the only exhibition, conference and networking event for the entire technical foam manufacturing supply chain in North America – returns to Novi, March 24-26, 2020 and will be co-located with the first annual Adhesives & Bonding Expo. To be part of the industry’s most important dedicated trade fair and conference, contact us today.