I’m starting out this week in a world of flexible vinyl. Actually, I’m at the Lansdowne Conference Center in Virginia where the flexible vinyl products world is convening July 11-13 for the preeminent conference for the vinyl industry: SPI’s Flexible Vinyl Products 21st Annual Compounding Conference. Combining business and technical programming, this event has attracted more than 125 attendees who will hear presentations from technical experts conducting cutting-edge research, business leaders providing strategy and market guidance and legislative and regulatory speakers with the latest from the nation’s capital and around the world.

And there’s some breaking news already! I had the opportunity to sit in on the SPI Flexible Vinyl Products Committee‘s  Executive Committee Meeting this morning and a very exciting development came about concerning NPE2012. But more on that below…

This week’s conference is hosted by SPI’s Flexible Vinyl Products Committee (FVPC), part of the association’s Material Suppliers Council. The FVPC works for the benefit of all companies within the flexible vinyl industry regardless of end market application – and, because of the material’s many advantages, that is an enormous amount of applications!  Because flexible vinyl is inexpensive, durable, safe, easily processed and recyclable, it is appealing to product manufacturers and ideally suited to myriad uses.  From construction (such as flooring and roofing) to life-saving medical products (such as blood/intravenous fluid bags, cardiac catheters, endotracheal tubing) to packaging (food wrap, container lids) to wire and cable and a vast variety of automotive uses, flexible vinyl makes modern life better.

Topics to be presented and discussed here in Virginia over the next two days include the latest research on new materials, optimizing product quality using new lab tools, global updates concerning the resin and plasticizer markets, and presentations concerning product de-selection issues and the ways in which science and statistics are used (and sometimes abused) by the media. Rebecca Obniski, a chemistry and music double-major at the College of William and Mary will present a paper on “New Metal-Based Smoke Suppressants and Fire Retardants for Flexible PVC.”  Veteran industry insider William Carroll, vice president for industry issues, Occidental Chemical Company, will reflect on his experiences in the plastics industry and his perspective on the future.  A number of  SPI staff experts will be on hand to deliver the latest news on the legislative front, REACH and Walmart’s retailer sustainability initiatives.

Speaking of news, this morning the FVPC Executive Committee preliminarily signed off on having a pavilion devoted to flexible vinyl products at NPE2012 in Orlando. Similar to successful specialty pavilions staged at NPE2009 that were devoted to fluoropolymers, thermoformers and TPE elastomers,  an “FVP World” pavilion would provide the flexible vinyl products community with a platform to discuss advancements in technology, educate participants and highlight member companies and organizations in a unified and organized format.  “FVP World” would be part of  NPE Technology Central in the Orange County Convention Center’s South Hall.  At this morning’s meeting, SPI President Bill Carteaux brought up this idea to FVPC leadership, saying, “We invite flexible vinyl products companies to host FVP World at NPE2012, and provide this opportunity to your members, suppliers and their customers to see and hear what’s new in flexible vinyl.” Needless to say, the FVPC Executive Committee liked the idea! Stay tuned for more details.

For once—a lottery that is a win-win for everyone! Today, at SPI headquarters in Washington, DC, a special lottery for an exhibit space “pre-draw” was held for NPE exhibitors with a 15 show history or higher.

You may be asking, “what is a pre-draw?” As you most likely know by now, NPE2012 and NPE2015 will be held in Orlando, Florida at the Orange County Convention Center. NPE2012 will be the first NPE show to be held in this venue, and with that comes an exciting new location, new opportunities and a new floor plan full of possibilities! Moving from a facility that has housed NPE since 1971 has also raised many inquiries on booth locations of industry sectors and longtime exhibitors.

The pre-draw process was developed by NPE’s committees and staff to help work through some of these very questions ahead of time—well in advance the traditional Space Draw that will take place this upcoming January 12-14, 2011, in Orlando. Exhibiting companies with a 15 show history or higher (the same companies that would have selected first in the January space draw) were offered the opportunity to participate, and 64 chose to enter the lottery.

This is not an ordinary lottery, however, since it ultimately rewards all participants! Allowing longtime SPI Member exhibitors to select their official spaces this summer will provide guidance to exhibitors on their booth selection during the January 2011 Space Draw. All other exhibitors will have the benefit of knowing—well before the Space Draw—where these longtime exhibitors are setting up their booths. This means better advanced decision-making for exhibitors and a well-organized floor plan for attendees.

Drumroll please! This morning, SPI’s Bill Carteaux, Gene Sanders and Phyllis Hortie were joined by exhibitor witness John Roberts of Gala Industries to pull these pre-draw participants from a lottery. In the coming weeks, these exhibiting companies, in order from 1-64, will work with SPI to select their booth space.  The first 10 companies are:

• Sumitomo Plastics Machinery and Demag Plastics Group
• Farrel Corporation
• Canon Communications
• SABIC
• ITW Instron Corporation + Affiliates
• Eastman Chemical Company
• DuPont
• Davis-Standard, LLC
• NFM Welding Engineers
• Gloucester Engineering Co., Inc.

And with this lottery for pre-draw booth selection, NPE2012 is off to an exciting start in a fresh venue.

It has been six months since the premier of the International Plastics Design Competition (IPDC) at NPE2009. In the relative quiet since the awards were celebrated and the last exhibits found their way home, I was recently reminded again of the excitement and pride we all felt to learn of so many critical problems being solved through innovation with plastics materials. 

Last week, as  I continued to read through news of the earthquake recovery efforts in Haiti, I thought of one plastic product in particular: the WaterBrick, which won two IPDC Awards last June — in the Sustainability Part/Component and Industrial/Military categories. Two plastics industry companies — FPM Tooling & Automation (designer and moldmaker) and ACM Plastic Products(molder) — were key to producing this life-saving resource. 

The WaterBrick is an industrial container made of HDPE (high-density polyethylene) that is recyclable and approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for water storage. It can be air-dropped into disaster zones to provide 3.4 gallons of clean water per container to people in need.  The use of HDPE renders the WaterBrick less costly than comparable steel containers, and careful design enables the containers to withstand the impact of a fall to the ground from a plane.  Once the water inside is used, the WaterBrick can be refilled with dirt or sand and utilized as a building block for construction of shelters in lieu of expensive concrete blocks (which is the case in Mkuze, South Africa.) 

It occurred to me that if these WaterBricks were not being sent to Haiti, then someone should find a way to get them there.  I was thrilled to discover that WaterBrick International had indeed formed a partnership with GlobalGiving to raise funds to get as many WaterBricks as possible into Haiti.  I encourage everyone  to donate – as little as $10 provides one person with a week’s supply of clean water!  (Currently, WaterBricks are not being used for shelter purposes in Haiti.)

It is gratifying to work directly with people and companies whose products transform lives and help overcome challenges of this magnitude — and we in the plastics industry get to do it a lot.  Let this example be a reminder for us to continue encouraging innovation and supporting one another’s efforts to make the world a safer, healthier place for all.

Have you heard the news?  After being held in Chicago since 1971, NPE is moving to Orlando in 2012. Of course, as a regular reader of this blog you already knew that.  Are you someone who doesn’t adjust well to change or who just wishes you knew more about the Orange County Convention Center prior to NPE2012? Well, three concurrent SPI events taking place the third week of March will provide you with an opportunity to get a sneak peek at the new NPE venue: the Spring 2010 National Board Meeting, the Thermoforming Committee Conference and the Equipment Council Annual Business Conference. All are being held at Rosen Shingle Creek – mere minutes from the Convention Center.  (Members attending the Equipment or Thermoformers meetings may attend any portion of the National Board Meeting for no additional charge.)

Attendees of these meetings will have multiple opportunities to learn more about the Orange County Convention Center, the vendors who will be assisting you during NPE2012, and the hotels and restaurants of the surrounding area. 

Looking in detail at the Equipment Council Annual Business Conference, being held March 16-18, there will be an impressive lineup of guest speakers; an SPI Advocacy Update from President Bill Carteaux and Senior Vice President, Government Affairs and Public Policy Jon Kurrle; and plenty of scheduled tours/events at the Orange County Convention Center.  Register for it today!

And if you are not yet excited enough, one creative SPI staffer (wisely remaining anonymous) has penned “Orlando,” sung to the tune of Swedish pop group ABBA’s biggest selling single “Fernando.”  So, cue up this video of “Fernando,” and sing along with our NPE-inspired lyrics below:

Can you hear the hum, Orlando?
We remember mere months ago the anticipation of this
In humid August, Orlando
You were wooing us with promises of cheap Pepsi
We could hear the distant rumble
Of the arrival of tons and tons of plastics machinery

The anticipation is growing, Orlando
Every day we get closer to 2012
We are so excited, Orlando
Our show will continue to grow and thrive
And we’re not ashamed to say
The thought of so many exhibitors makes us want to buy!

There will be something on the floor that day
Another molded part give-away, Orlando
Rows and rows of machines
Some extruding, Orlando
Though we never thought the show would move,
There’s no regret
If we had to do the same again,
We would, my friend, Orlando

Now the deal is sealed, Orlando
Get ready for Expo Gene.
Can you hear the hum Orlando?
Are you ready to help us continue to go green?
We can see it in your support
How proud you are to have us through 2015.

There will be something on the floor that day
Another molded part give-away, Orlando
Rows and rows of machines
Some extruding, Orlando
Though we never thought the show would move,
There’s no regret
If we had to do the same again,
We would, my friend, Orlando

According to the National Association of Manufacturers‘ National Center for the American Workforce, there is a “broadening skills gap….taking an increasingly negative toll on America’s ability to compete in the global economy” and the challenge will be more severe as Baby Boomers in the manufacturing sector retire with no skilled employees to replace them. In fact, more than 80 percent of U.S. manufacturers report an overall shortage of qualified employees and 46 percent of small and medium manufacturers report that finding qualified employees is one of the most serious problems facing their company.

In an attempt to illuminate plastics careers to the next generation of students, a new episode of Degrees That Work, an award-winning documentary television series co-produced by Pennsylvania College of Technology (Penn College) and WVIA-TV, is devoted to our industry. With past episodes devoted to nanotechnology, welding and fabrication and advanced manufacturing, the series was developed to build awareness of careers that may not be familiar to the public but offer ample opportunities.

With an extensive amount of footage shot at NPE2009 last June, the episode follows a group of high school students who are enrolled in a technical education class as they design and create the plastic body for a remote-controlled car to be raced against other high schools at an annual Plastics Experience event at Penn College.  The program also features interviews with national plastics industry experts as well as a visit to K’NEX Brands, a large injection molder that produces popular construction toy kits among other products.

There are only five accredited plastics engineering programs in the country. Two of those – Penn College and Penn State Erie, The Behrend College – are in Pennsylvania.  Get more information about plastics and polymer technology majors at Penn College.  

In addition to Penn College professors of plastics and polymer engineering, other  experts interviewed in the documentary include SPI President Bill Carteaux; Dana Gier, Julie McKenna and Erica Ocampo of Dow Chemical Co.; Dennis Gros of Gros Executive Recruiters; Robert Grace of Plastics News; Greg Koski of plastics.com; Michael Araten of K’NEX Brands and Tim Womer of Xaloy Inc.

You can watch the 28-minute program right here (see above)!  It will actually premiere at 7:00 p.m. (EST) on February 1st on public television stations serving northcentral and northeastern Pennsylvania, and will air several more times on those stations in February. The program will also air on select other public television stations — find your station here and request the program. Educators are invited to download the episode for classroom use. 

This would be an excellent resource for an outreach activity in your company’s community.  Ask Andrea O’Neill, WVIA’s director of education, about free DVDs and  lesson planning guides.