Composites - A Maturing Industry

by Michael L. Skinner - Editor/Publisher Composites Consultants

While attending the SAMPE conference in Long Beach this past May, I was somewhat dismayed by the feel and tone of the show. The show was physically smaller. There were few displays of truly innovative new products or of interesting new applications for composites. There were almost no exhibitors from exciting new companies. Mostly, it was the same companies we have seen before, selling the same or only slightly different products. While some of this malaise can be attributed to the current slow down in the general economy, I think it is more symptomatic of a fundamental change. The composite industry is becoming a mature industry, with all of the associated changes for good and bad.

The recent decision by the unsaturated polyester resin manufacturers Reichhold, DSM, Cray Valley, Ashland, Scott Bader and others, to exhibit only every second year at the JEC Composites Show in Paris, points up some of these gradual changes that have been creeping into our industry. While the European composites market seems to be currently more dynamic than the US market, based on the arguably more successful JEC Composites Show (JEC2003 report, in pdf), it appears to be still not enough, to interest these resin suppliers in exhibiting on an annual basis. The composites business is no longer the young, dynamic, innovative industry that many of us grew up with. It is becoming more mature, steadier, and more sedate. The heady pace of change and innovation that drove the industry in the early years has slowed and the need for annual conferences to keep up with that innovation is becoming less apparent. Many related mature industries do not hold major annual conferences. The Society of the Plastics Industry’s NPE show is held in Chicago every three years. The K show, the large plastics and rubber show in Düsseldorf, Germany, is only held every three years.

The number of composite related shows and conferences – the SAMPE show, CFA show, JEC show, RP Asia, China Composites, ICCM, ECCM, ICCS, and countless other meetings and conferences – is astounding. Every trade group and association sponsors their own show or conference. Couldn’t these shows and conferences be combined to produce fewer and more dynamic shows that are more attractive to attendees and exhibitors? For several years CFA and SAMPE coordinated some of their efforts, staging the CFA show and the SAMPE technical conference concurrently. These joint efforts were, I think, a step in the right direction. But, for some reason, these shows are now separate again and this year, actually have overlapping schedules, in separate cities, making it difficult or impossible for attendees and exhibitors to attend both shows. The rivalry and lack of cooperation between these groups does not do the composite industry any good.

As composite products have become more widely accepted, they have stopped being “composite products”, instead becoming automotive products, or marine products, or other products that happen to be made of composite materials, because it is the best choice for the product. The need for special shows to promote composite products is being diminished. The rise in importance of the IBEX boat show, the SAE automotive show and others to the composite industry is becoming apparent. Many suppliers of composite materials and products now devote a large portion of their trade show budgets to these more “mainline” shows.

Will the groups and associations that represent the composite industry be able to mature as fast as the composite industry itself is maturing? Can they take the initiative and produce fewer and better shows and conferences that are more relevant, dynamic and profitable for the exhibitors and attendees? Hopefully, the professional and volunteer managers of these groups can see the changing nature of our industry and push their organizations to respond to the maturing needs of the composite industry.

Nov. 2003