$650 million in new biz; medical's buzz still plenty positive

If history holds true, then about $650 million in new business will be placed this year between exhibitors and attendees of the Medical Design & Manufacturing trade shows, held Feb.10-12 in Anaheim, CA and organized by MPW and IMM, parent Canon Communications. The figure is based on a proprietary model developed by Canon Communications for correlating attendance and business activity. 

MPW’s impression from numerous discussions during these co-located trade shows is that medical remains a safe haven to which numerous processors continue to steer.  Medplast, for instance, announced during the event (click here for article) that it would expand its capacity for manufacturing of molds for medical parts processing, as well as continue investing in equipment to help it meet the medical market’s regulatory demands. In related news, Jabil Circuit said it will expand its reach into the medical market, (click here) creating a single-use device (SUD) business unit. Making the announcement at Medical Design & Manufacturing West (MD&M), Tony Allan, Jabil’s VP global business units, told MPW that his company’s existing exposure to medical has increased since 2000, with annual revenues from the sector growing from $24 million at that time to $800 million today. Material suppliers also came to the event in force, many with new products to offer, such as Eastman Chemical’s introduction of a new range of Tritan copolyesters (click here) suitable for the medical market.

According to Canon’s trade show group, manufacturers in the U.S. produce 50% of all medical devices consumed worldwide. Spurred by ever-increasing demand from an aging population, the medical manufacturing industry has posted consistent 7-8% increases for over a decade. Based upon preliminary end-of-show reports, Canon is projecting attendance from the Anaheim events will increase 4-5% and top 16,000 for MD&M West, which has been a fixture in California for 25 years. More than 70% of the overall event’s 2200 exhibitors have already contracted for space in its 2010 edition.

“Our exhibitors came into the show not really knowing what to expect,” said Canon Communications CEO Charles McCurdy. “Given the constant drumbeat of negativity in the media, I think many just assumed attendee traffic would be down. The success of this event for both exhibitors and attendees is a testimony to the vitality of the medical device industry as well as other advanced manufacturing segments.  Looking ahead at the balance of 2009,” he added, “we remain cautiously optimistic about overall business activity in the markets we cover, and we are launching several new trade shows in the coming months – including SÜdTec in Germany, MEDTEC France, MEDTEC Japan, and BIOMEDevice Boston.”

Read our World Tour report for more news from the Medtec show. —mpweditorial@cancom.com