NPE 2015 trade show will go 3D

A technology for producing three-dimensional prototypes, mold components, and even finished parts direct from digital files will be the focus of a new annual exhibition called NPE3D: The Manufacturing Industry’s Global 3D Conference and Solutions Fair.

The first NPE3D will be held in conjunction with SPI’s NPE2015: The International Plastics Showcase and will be open to both badge holders and the general public. NPE2015 will take place March 23-27, 2015 in Orlando, Florida. Thereafter, for years when the triennial NPE is not held, trade association Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI) – which organizes the show – will announce a location and schedule for NPE3D.

NPE3D will present exhibits and educational demonstrations of 3D printing, a technology that recent advances are rapidly making more accessible to designers, toolmakers, and processors in sectors as diverse as automotive, consumer products, medical devices, and packaging, according to Gene Sanders, SPI’s senior vice president of trade shows and conferences.

“NPE2015 will be the perfect inaugural setting for a learning fair about 3D printing, providing a built-in exhibitor base and an audience of more than 60,000 industry professionals, many of whom have an intense need to know about this trailblazing technology,” said Sanders. “The sheer diversity of the plastics industry assembled at NPE2015 will make NPE3D an ideal platform for discussion and debate, with input from an enormous range of markets and perspectives.”