Interplas 2011

It was an early start for the Scottish expeditionary force that boarded the 5.36 am train from Edinburgh on 28 September. After transferring onto the train from Glasgow and changing at Wolverhampton we arrived at the NEC in Birmingham at 10.15 just 15 minutes after Interplas 2011 opened for Day 2 The triennial plastics exhibition was well organised and already had a buzz as we entered Hall 4 in search of a long overdue cup of coffee. Our needs were well provided for by SPRA Member, Scott Millar who is now Sales Manager at Ferromatik UK Limited. Walking around the hall we saw the familiar mix of injection moulding machines, extrusion lines, thermoforming, raw materials, printing, recycling, robotics, plastics design, tooling, test equipment, consultants and training providers that is our industry.

Compared to 3 years ago the mood this time was much more optimistic with many visitors looking to spend money. Ours is a capital intensive industry and companies cannot hope to remain in business long term if they do not reinvest. Perhaps the famine of the past few years is over. Certainly there were people buying.

Visitors from Scotland were in good number, but exhibitors from Scotland were few and far between. The only SPRA Corporate Member from Scotland was Glasgow University who exhibited at NANO Live.

The new managers of Interplas, Rapid News Communications Group, are to be congratulated on co-locating with other shows such as TCT (Time Compression Technology), NANO Live and PPMA (Packaging Machinery). This undoubtedly injected new blood into Interplas which has been running since the 1950s. We will never again see the big shows at the NEC as we did 20 years ago when Interplas filled 5 halls. However, there is still a need for a triennial UK plastics show and an alive and kicking Interplas still provides for that need.

Report by Colin Hindle, SPRA Education Officer, October 2011