Canon Gets Deeper Into Plastics
Staff -- Tradeshow Week, 3/12/2007
Canon Communications may have added one more element to its constantly growing group of collocated shows referred to as Medical Design and Manufacturing — at the same time reducing the impact of one of its competitors serving the plastics industry.
Canon has bought the triennial Plastics USA from the Society of the Plastics Industry with plans to align it with Canon's own Plastec shows. There will be a Plastec Midwest/Plastics USA as part of a collocation Sept. 25–27 in Rosemont that also includes Natl. Manufacturing Week and Medical Design and Manufacturing. Plastics USA by itself will collocate with the 2008 edition of Natl. Manufacturing Week at Rosemont.
Meanwhile, SPI will hold onto its much larger, also triennial, NPE — The Intl. Plastics Showcase, to be held next in June 2009 at Chicago's McCormick Place.
"This will enable SPI to focus more closely on our world-scale NPE exposition," said Society of the Plastics Industry President and CEO William Carteaux, "and to develop new online enterprises with even broader international potential."
When last held at McCormick Place in 2004, Plastics USA had a 95,000 net square foot showfloor with 435 exhibiting companies and 15,000 attendees (according to SPI). By comparison, the most recent edition of NPE, held at McCormick Place in June 2006, had 942,524 net sq. ft., 1,838 exhibitors and 47,717 attendees (according to Tradeshow Week research).
Along with the three plastics shows it already owns (Plastec West, East and South), Canon Communications publishes the Plastics Machinery & Auxiliaries magazine.
"This acquisition expands our position," said Canon President and CEO Charles McCurdy.
It is the latest in a series of acquisitions that began after Apprise Media acquired Canon in mid-2005. In March 2006 it purchased Octo Media, producer of Media Device Technology Exhibition & Conference and Medical Device Technology Magazine. Then in May 2006, it bought eight shows and one supporting magazine from Reed Exhibitions, including Natl. Manufacturing Week.
