JEC Europe 2014 Preview

In anticipation of its annual Paris composite industry event, the JEC Group says it is preparing it’s biggest show floor yet for what the organization expects will be a record influx of exhibitors and attendees to its 2014 edition of the JEC Europe trade show. The largest event of its kind, JEC Europe hosted as many as 1,181 exhibitors in recent years, 26 percent from inside France and 74 percent from abroad.

Set for its traditional location in Porte de Versailles, in the southwestern part of Paris, the show will occupy an 8 percent larger space at the Paris Expo this year. The show floor will be housed, for the first time, in two exhibition halls, located in Pavilion 7. Thus, for 2014, the show will cover 54,400m² (585,556 ft²).

Claiming 32,256 visitors in 2012 (this figure includes exhibitor personnel), JEC reports that attendance at the Paris event will continue to be international in scope: 20 percent of visitors come from inside France, but the balance reportedly hails from beyond its borders. Including those from France, 77 percent arrive from European locales. Asia is the point of origin for 10 percent. And 8 percent come across the Atlantic from the U.S. The remaining 5 percent represent the rest of the world.

An unusual visitor statistic is the breakdown between composites industry companies and those that are end-users of composites. JEC claims that 33.6 percent of its visitors are in the industry: 38.7 percent of those are composites processors, 22.3 percent produce raw materials for composites, and the remainder represent service providers, distributors and equipment/machine manufacturers. But the overwhelming larger group of visitors (65.7 percent) are said to attend on behalf of companies that incorporate composites in products sold into one or more end-markets. Notably, the largest percentage (24.3 percent) come from the automotive industry, followed by aerospace (20 percent), building and construction (16.9 percent), boatbuilding and marine (9.2 percent), with the rest divided between software and services, sporting goods, leisure and consumer goods, rail transport, medical and other.

 

Conference emphases

In 2014 the show’s conference focus will be on two hot industry growth markets:

• Offshore Energies: Wind energy, oil and gas, and hydropower will be examined as promising new-growth drivers for composites.
• Hybrid Structures: Weight reduction is now crucial in transportation. Hybrid structures enable end-market OEMs to take best advantage of each of a variety of materials in what some are now calling the “multimaterial” vehicle.

 

JEC’s Country of Honor

In 2014, the JEC Europe Show and Conference also will focus on the development of the composites industries in The Netherlands. Dutch companies and knowledge institutes in the high-tech sector of JEC’s featured neighbor are renowned for their technological excellence. The JEC Country of Honor spotlight will be especially bright on the Dutch aerospace industry and its strategically located cluster of more than 100 companies. JEC will celebrate The Netherland’s high-tech systems and materials sector, which bolsters innovations in the areas of high-tech equipment, components and materials.

Prospective attendees can register for JEC Europe 2014 online at www.mybadgeonline.com/JEC-Europe/home.aspx. For additional information, interested parties may also contact the JEC Hotline (available February 3, 2014), via E-mail: jec@badgeonline.net or Tel.: +33 (0)1 43 84 86 83.