Show set to unify composites value chain

Independent market research has shown that the UK composites industry is worth around £2 billion per annum, and this figure is growing steadily year-on-year. With material and process innovation continuing to gather momentum there was an increasing need within the industry for an event to bring together every link in the value supply chain.

That event now exists, the Composites Engineering Show, and it will be held at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham, on the 29-30 September 2010. Conceived and developed with the specific aim of bringing together participants from the UK's rapidly developing and expanding composites design and production engineering community, the show will feature product and process applications from a wide spectrum of industry sectors, including aerospace, motorsport, transportation, marine, medical, construction, oil & gas, telecoms and consumer products.

At the show, CompositesUK will be hosting a ‘UK Composites Industry Sector Briefing'. Held on the afternoon of Wednesday, 29th September, the briefing is free to attend but visitors must tick the necessary box when pre-registering online to ensure they have a seat at this informative presentation.

“We are really excited about the introduction of the UK's first dedicated trade show serving the needs of the UK composites design and manufacturing sector, and we are looking forward to meeting UK multi-industry supply chain and customer groups nationwide,” stated Chris Little, CompositesUK Chair.

As a leading UK composites manufacturer epm: technology will be asking visitors their views on how composites firms should best serve the aerospace industry when it exhibits at the show.

Managing director, Graham Mulholland, says that it will take this customer-focused approach into the aerospace market and, instead of using the show to tell potential customers what it can do, will ask them to list what they think it should do instead.

“To coin a phrase, we are not coming to the show asking what the aerospace industry can do for us, but what we can do for the industry,” he explained. “The full potential of how composite materials can shape aerospace remains untapped, because so many problems of producing composite components on a large enough scale are unresolved.

“We don't currently have the answers, but we do have a can-do attitude that involves altering our processes to meet our customers' needs. We are bringing examples of our high precision components to the show, but our main concern is engaging with industry leaders to find out what they are looking for from companies like ours.”

Exhibits and technical presentations at the Composites Engineering Show will cover every type of composite, including fibre reinforced polymers, sandwich and cored structures, fibre metal laminates, metal matrix, ceramic matrix and carbon composites. The event showcases materials manufacturers and suppliers; design, analysis and simulation technologies; process providers and production technologies, including machining and tooling; suppliers of composite parts, components and structures; and composites maintenance engineering.

Composites Engineering is organised by Leading Edge Events & Media, and is co-located with the Aero Engineering 2010 Exhibition within an integrated show space that promotes knowledge transfer.

As well as a free fast-track entry badge, there are four compelling reasons to pre-register for the co-located Aero Engineering and Composites Engineering shows this September:

• Over 150 key suppliers of parts, components, structures, electronics and systems, engineering services and supporting technology groups will be exhibiting their latest products and services • The two-day Open Technology Forum held on the show floor offers ‘free to attend' technical sessions from leading industry media, technical bodies and technology providers • The two-day Supply Chain Business Briefings, hosted by Aerospace & Defence KTN and UK Trade & Industry (UKTI) is another reason to register. Open to paid delegates, this is a high-level industry programme providing fresh business intelligence that will allow aerospace engineering businesses to best position their forward technical, skills and programme activity strategies – it includes presentations from influential industry leaders such as BAE Systems, Airbus, GKN, Goodrich, Rolls-Royce, UKTI, National Composites Centre, and others • The B2B meetings held over both days provide an Integrated Appointment Programme. Set to go live two weeks prior to the show, this unique online meetings portal will facilitate hundreds of on-site meetings up and down the supply chain. Available to all attendees, exhibitors and delegates it promises to provide a nurturing environment where business activities can thrive.

www.compositesexhibition.com