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Interplas 2014

The show floor before open on Day One.

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Interplas 2014

One side of the vast Engel stand.

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Interplas 2014

The show floor before open on Day One.

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Interplas 2014

A glass of fizz to toast Women in Plastics!

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Interplas 2014

Thanks for the popcorn, Instron!

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Interplas 2014

Mingling at the Interplas exhibitor party.

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Interplas 2014

The EPPM logo flying high along with our other Rapid News titles high above the Interplas show floor.

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Interplas comes around once every three years and 2014 was the triumphant return of the leading UK plastics event after Rapid News Communications took over the show in 2011.

Given its three-year cycle, this was team EPPM's first Interplas outing. We arrived on-site at the NEC in Birmingham in the midst of build after pushing the button on our October issue.

For those who have never experienced 'build' before, the things to remember are that it's grubby, chaotic and there are periods of calm punctuated by frantic spells of urgency and stress. EPPM arrived at the organiser's office during a moment of calm, but urgency and stress soon descended. Luckily, the Rapid News team is adept at pulling together with minimal dispute and suffice it to say, when the last of the team departed at around midnight before Day One, Interplas was looking pretty impressive, even before the vacuum cleaning detail had swept across the rubbish-strewn aisles.

Day One: September 30th 2014

EPPM was at the NEC for 8am and by the time the show opened the team was primed and ready for three days of back-to-back meetings, press conferences, interviews and after-show events.

Our first appointment was at the G&A Moulding Technology stand where we were among the scoop (yes that is the correct collective noun) of journalists invited to bear witness to the announcement G&A is to be acquired by RJG on January 1st 2015. The announcement was made by an enthusiastic John Goff, CEO of G&A, together with Ken Fassett, RJG International Business Development.

An initial combing of the halls allowed us to appreciate the true extent exhibitors had gone to for the show. From the vast aisle-straddling behemoth stand manned by industry juggernaut Engel, to the smaller-scale but beautifully colourful and friendly LCR Hallcrest booth, those who had made the effort were already reaping the rewards of investing in their show presence.

In the afternoon, I broke off to attend the Sumitomo (SHI) Demag press conference where Managing Director Nigel Flowers announced the achievements of this international injection moulding powerhouse on the occasion of its 40th birthday, in addition to the introduction of the Smart Fast Clamp packaging solution on the IntElect 100 - an Interplas debut.

Together with British Plastics & Rubber, our sister publication, we attended the Summit Systems stand party, where we enjoyed bubbly and fresh parmesan cheese on the company's glacier-themed booth, setting us up for the big event of the evening - the inaugural Women in Plastics party, where BP&R Editor Leanne Taylor welcomed the two dozen women who attended to discuss everything from ways to promote female role models in traditionally male-dominated sectors, to education, to what would we put in a Women in Plastics signature cocktail.

Day Two: October 1st 2014

Day Two was said to be the busiest day of Interplas 2014 with the most registrations made for Wednesday. This did seem to be the case right from the beginning of the day, with the volume of chatter and activity within the four walls of Hall 4 seeming considerably louder than on Day One.

Our day was packed with yet more meetings, one of the most memorable being our interview on the A. Schulman booth with Vice-President and General Manager, EMEA, Heinrich Lingnau, External Communications Manager, EMEA, Annamaija Bergius and European Commercial Director at Perrite - which was acquired by A. Schulman in 2013 - David Hall. The interview was one of EPPM's most extensive of Interplas 2014 and covered everything from the state of the European economy to additive manufacturing - a venture A.Schulman is "definitely" going to pursue. You heard it here first!

Experiencing the show floor is a key part of experiencing Interplas, but just as important is stopping by the conferences, not least because the line-up of stellar industry experts and innovators was not to be missed. EPPM wishes it had more time to sit and absorb these sessions, but we did snatch a few minutes to hear Iain Wright MP, Shadow Minister for Industry, discuss the state of manufacturing and car production in the UK.

After a brief respite for lunch (a luxury for any journalist on-site at any trade show), EPPM made the foray into familiar territory for this editor, to TCT Show + Personalize. As a former member of the TCT Magazine editorial team, TCT Show is not such a strange place for me and I had made an appointment via Bespoke to talk materials with Stratasys' John Jones, EMEA Consumables Business Manager about the role plastics is playing in multi-material additive manufacturing - a story I look forward to sharing in due course.

EPPM then visited more stands, concluding the day on Instron's eye-catching cinema-themed booth, where we took in the team's Interplas experience - a high production-value video demonstrating the horrors of what happens when consumer products have not been test-assured correctly, which showcased unfortunate events in a crescendo of disastrousness. If anybody of weak constitution left the theatre feeling a little shaken, the team's fresh popcorn would put you to rights immediately.

What better way to round off a second busy day than by celebrating with the exhibitors at the very well attended Interplas exhibitor party on the Rapid News stand? From what I gather from my conversations with people from across the industry that evening - even after a glass or two of something - any stress experienced at build was now a distant memory and the enjoyment of having a busy second day had erased any doubts.

Day Three: October 2nd 2014

The last day of the show is always the most difficult. Tired, sore feet (regardless of how sensible your shoes, your soles break in the end), a dry throat and dry skin from the air conditioning, the walking and the talking - it all takes its toll. Which is why working with fantastic people - and I'm referring not only to the Rapid News team but the men and women we spent the day with who helped us pull together what I hope will be a smashing Interplas UK promotional video.

We cherry picked a list of people we know had had a great Interplas experience and are respected throughout the industry for the Interplas promo video and spent the morning asking them to make a little time for us to answer some questions in front of the hot lights that afternoon. Naturally, not everybody is an on-camera kind of person, but happily, the vast majority of our interviewees were not only enthusiastic to participate, but gave cracking interviews that will look great in the final edit.

I shan't give away who we brought together for our video, let's save that for when it's ready to be uploaded, but I would like to thank everybody and the teams that took part - even those who regrettably had to decline.

After finishing the final interview, the EPPM team had some fun appointments to round off the day and our Interplas experience. We stopped by bbe Recruitment where we acted as the impartial party to pull a business card out of a hat for a prize, where we thoroughly enjoyed meeting the team. Finally, we stopped by the delightful Birmingham Granulators to do much of the same, selecting a business card from a pile and choosing the lucky winner of a scrummy Fortnum and Masons hamper of good things. I don't mind admitting I put my own business card in the box, although it would have been slightly embarrassing if I had selected it.

EPPM had a fantastic Interplas 2014 experience and it has given us a great boost ahead of Fakuma. Thank you to everybody who sat down with us, for all the delicious coffees, fun freebies and promises of a slice of cake or a local beer when we make Friedrichshafen our home away from home in a few days. And here's to the organisers and to the people working behind the scenes - and here's to an even better Interplas 2017.