NPE2015 space draw results handily beat 2012 numbers

We knew anecdotally that the NPE2015 space draw was having a banner year when PlasticsToday attended the event in Orlando, FL, a couple of weeks ago. Now, SPI: The Plastics Industry Trade Association has released the numbers to prove it.

By the close of the space draw on Feb. 21, 2014, exhibiting companies had committed to 39% more booths and 28% more exhibit space than at the drawing for the 2012 show. Based on a just-released audit, the exhibit space sold thus far amounts to 91% of all space occupied at the 2012 show.

Exhibitors have committed to 1054 booths and 853,120 sq ft of space versus 758 booths and 664,525 sq ft at the NPE2012 space draw. Of the two giant halls that make up the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, the West Hall is now sold out, and only 30% of space remains available in the South Hall.

SPI also anticipates that more machinery will be shown in operation than at NPE2012, with more than 300 exhibitors saying they will be running equipment on the exhibit floor. The number of large booths booked at the space draw, 235 of which are larger than 1000 sq ft (93 sq.m), would seem to validate this claim.

Companies from outside the United States reserved 28% of the exhibition space, with China, Canada, and Italy leading the international cohort. In addition, 14% of companies selecting space were either new to NPE or did not exhibit at the 2012 event.

"NPE2015 is on course to be a big, bustling, truly great show, with a wealth of discoveries awaiting attendees," said Gene Sanders, SPI Senior Vice President of trade shows and conferences, in a prepared statement. "Much of the sheer dynamism on the exhibit floor will be generated by production-scale equipment operating everywhere, providing many opportunities to encounter new processing technologies in actual use."