A congress for composites

The Composites Engineering Show has become one of the fastest growing engineering and technology events in Europe. Ed Hill spoke to UK Tech Events’ managing director, Ian Stone about its success.

Composite materials epitomise the very latest in manufacturing technology, R&D and product development so it’s not surprising that organisations linked to the industry make up the largest number of exhibitors at this year’s Advanced Engineering UK group of shows. There will be more than 200 exhibitors in the Composites Engineering Show zone at the event held at the NEC, Birmingham on November 7-8, alongside its partner tradeshows, Aero Engineering, UK Plastics Electronics and, new for this year, Automotive Engineering. Gathering together Ian Stone is managing director of UK Tech Events which organises the two day exhibition. When he instigated the idea to stage a group of events highlighting the very best that manufacturing ingenuity has to offer he knew the cutting edge world of composites would play an integral part. “We wanted to provide a UK-centric show for organisations that are pursuing lightweight and high performance material programmes. It gives them an opportunity each year where they can be assured the fullest variety of materials, design tooling and processing partners that can support those programmes will be in one convenient location. Given the diversity of engineering programmes that are around, whether low volume, highly specialised products or lower-tech high volume goods, there is a real demand for this annual event.” This year the Composites Show will see its largest ever number of exhibitors. Stone sees an insatiable appetite developing for the widespread application of advanced composite materials through wider industrial and consumer product design and engineering. “Sectors such as wind energy, motorsport and of course aerospace are well known to be ahead of the curve in exploiting the advantages of composites however designers and engineering groups throughout the wider industrial and consumer product sectors are undoubtedly poised to increasingly exploit the advantages of these lightweight, high performance materials. “This year’s show is a good barometer of this development; you only have to look at the number of companies that are pre-registering for the event to see the increasing cross section and variety of companies and industry groups that are involved in the composites field. Whether it is designers, production experts or product managers, there is clearly a paradigm shift in the way composites are beginning to be perceived and used in industry. “It is a very exciting time for the composites industries. We are on the threshold of lower cost, more automated composite processing, paving the way for potentially exponential exploitation of these materials in higher volume industries, notably the automotive sector.” Stone says the interest in the properties that composite technologies can present designers, such as high strength to weight ratio and performance durability, has massively increased in recent times. “There is an insatiable demand for the unique combination of performance and weight saving which they offer. This is empowering designers to be more ambitious in developing the next generation of products across a multitude of sectors, from sports goods to industrial products and developments in motorsport, marine, transportation, construction, oil and gas and medical. “This is an awakening market and the Composites Engineering Show’s aim is to provide both companies that are already well versed in harnessing the benefits of composites, together with those that are interested in getting more involved in discovering what these products can offer, the best showcase to highlight their potential.” Many exhibitors will be making their debut at the show, including those from outside the UK. First time exhibitors include Azelis, Axson Technologies, Advanced Dyeing Solutions, Wolfangel, Technical Fibre Products, Assyst Bullmer, Hydromar, Composite Metal Technologies, Cutwel, ÉireComposites and more. “A great many international companies who have attended other European shows now see Composites Engineering as an opportunity to get to know the UK market. It’s important we have a balance that includes the various segments of the industry so visitors find a range of technology and supply chain partners, whether it’s in fibre products, semi-finished products, moulding and processing, consumables, tooling and simulation, analysis and testing and more. This is supplemented by an array of other complimentary technology and capability partners located in the neighbouring Aero Engineering and Automotive Engineering show zones.” A key attraction in the exhibition hall will be Project Torpedalo. The team involved in the venture hope to pedal the innovative carbon fibre vessel across the Atlantic for charity. The boat, which has been built since last year’s show and incorporates the very latest in materials, ergonomics and hydrodynamics innovation, will be on display in the hall. A chance to skill up One area where Stone sees an increasing priority being placed is in creating a larger sustainable composites skills base. As part of an increased programme of presentations at the show, 2012 sees the introduction of a dedicated Composites 101: ‘understanding the basics’ open tutorial programme on day one of the show, hosted by Composites UK and the Composites Skills Alliance. “The need for more widespread skills is something that is developing as the industry itself begins to crystallise. The creation this year of the Composites Hub, bringing together Composites UK, National Composites Centre and the Composites Skills Alliance into a coordinated infrastructure supporting the UK composite industry’s growth and development will undoubtedly provide a powerful vehicle for accelerating the composites skills agenda. “Industry is about technology, innovation, process capability skills and capital. In this year’s composites show we will see an abundance of the latest technology but also a focus on the skills agenda to ensure there is enough capability to support what predictably will be very high growth in UK composite processing requirements.” Stone asserts the composites industry as a whole is beginning to see the event as its annual UK get-together. This year other important events in the composites calendar are congregating around the two day event. The Composites UK Innovation Awards Dinner will be held at the Crown Plaza Hotel at the NEC complex on the first night (Nov 7^th) and to correspond with the awards, the show floor will host a feature display of the award nominees together with a one hour ‘awards roundup’ presentation session, as part of the two day Composites Engineering Open Forum programme. A key development for 2012 is the introduction of the Composites Engineering Conference, organised by joint headline partner to the show NetComposites. The conference will provide an intensive one day pre-show technical programme aimed at material and manufacturing developments in fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) composites on Tuesday November 6th, allowing attending delegates to stay on to attend the exhibition on the following two days. “Stakeholders see the show as the logical place and time to spearhead other synergetic events because they know much of the industry will be in one place, adds Stone.” Additionally, NetComposites will host a number of visitor features, including for the first time an Ask the Expert service in the hall, providing visitors with a chance to sit down with a member of its experts team for on the spot assistance. “There are hundreds of companies who are interested in learning more about composites or have a particular project they are embarking on. This service will help to point them in the right direction. We think it will really add value for people attending the show and help make their time there as productive as possible.” NetComposites will also host a programme of ‘emerging technology’ open presentation sessions over the two days – featuring 15 individual contributions across the areas of Biocomposites, Digital Engineering, Thermoplastic Materials, Nano-level developments and Sustainability in Composites. As part of the open forum programme, Composites UK is supporting a range daily ‘composites in action’ sessions focusing on areas such as composites in motorsport, process and capability advances, rapid processes, composites in automotive plus a round-up of current UK university research and activity across the composites sector. Filling the vacuum With the Composites Engineering Show appearing to have the biggest number of exhibitors, where does that leave the other events that fall under the Advanced Engineering UK group of events umbrella? “The composites industry has a unique dynamic in UK industry. The show’s current success reflects the fact that there wasn’t a big show in its own right dedicated to the industry before in the UK. There was a well-defined and cohesive group of companies ready to occupy that vacuum. “We are delighted with the success of the Composites Engineering show. It has been the fastest growing sector so far and this year it will be without doubt the biggest composites show that has ever taken place in the UK.” However, he makes the point that the sister events under the advanced Engineering UK canopy are doing well and predicts strong year on year growth moving forward. “We have every expectation the Aero Engineering Show is poised for substantial growth in 2013 and the Automotive Show will benefit from the resurgence that sector has seen recently.” Stone anticipates aero exhibitors will grow by at least 30% next year and automotive stakeholders will double. He also maintains the biggest advantage of companies from all aspects of advanced engineering exhibiting in one hall is the across industry benefits it offers. “The advantage with this concept is not to look at one particular show compared to another but the whole integrated experience. There are many companies that are exhibiting in the composites section who could easily be in the aero or automotive areas. It is very difficult to pigeonhole companies into one box. “The UK Tech Events formula allows companies to position themselves in the zone that they feel is their core specialisation but with the knowledge they are part of a bigger landscape that includes the whole of advanced engineering. “They can be confident they will be promoted to all attendee groups who will either purposely or serendipitously come across them as part of the movement around the hall. There are very strong links between all the shows and as the other zones grow composites exhibitors will see even more of the right types of customer groups passing by their stands over the two days.” Automotive matters The newly staged Automotive Engineering Show is hoping to make the most of record levels of investment from the major manufacturers into the UK. “This is the first time UK car manufacturing has been in a trade surplus since the 1970s. There has been £5.5 billion pounds worth of investment by the likes of Jaguar/Land Rover and Nissan. We have never been in a position where there is so much supply chain opportunity and ambitious growth plans for the UK motor vehicle industry.” And Stone reiterates the potential crossovers between composites engineering and the automotive industry. “Automotive is going through it most significant light-weighting programme ever because of the need to meet environmental sustainability. It is more than ever looking to introduce advanced composites in automotive assembly to produce low carbon emitting vehicles. There is billions of pounds worth of business available for supply chain companies. “The Automotive Engineering show will provide an opportunity for the 3,000 plus supply chain partners to meet the OEMs, tier 1, 2 and 3 suppliers and engage in procurement dialogue to develop components and materials. It will be a chance for engineering companies to meet and do business. To look at new ideas and provide a platform to really push forward engineering ambitions and fact find for automotive programmes. “This is the first time a concentration point purely for the advanced auto engineering industry has come together as a whole and the synergies between composites and the auto industry will continue to flourish.” Judging by the pre-show interest the November show will see record numbers of visitors. “Our pre-registration levels are massively higher than they were this time last year,” Stone reveals. “Then we had a total footfall of more than 7,000 over two days. This year we expect that to be around 10,000.” And he contends the show’s unique selling point of bringing all aspects of advanced manufacturing under one roof is still its greatest attraction. “The Advanced Engineering Show is bigger than the sum of its parts. The proposition of these advanced engineering companies all exhibiting in the same hall, at the same time makes a lot of sense, even if it’s just from a logistics point of view where decisions on time spent at trade shows has to be increasingly justified. A reflection of the formula’s success is the fact that virtually all component parts of the UK High Value Manufacturing Catapult are either exhibiting or contributing to the agenda, illustrating how the event as a whole shadows the UK Government’s overall advanced high value manufacturing ambitions. “The show offers a broad advanced engineering agenda which enables those crossovers and synergies to come together. Those chances to look at what other industries are doing and find nuggets of information in ways you might not normally expect. It’s where these worlds collide that the really exciting stuff happens.” http://compositesexhibition.com