Day one of MD&M East (and its related packaging/manufacturing/plastics shows) at the Philadelphia Convention Center was a bit sluggish, perhaps due to the occasionally dreary weather outside. But medical issues seemed to be the hot topics, with attendees looking for medical grade materials, solutions for implantable devices and, of course speed—from idea to finished product. As further proof of that, the number of 3D printers and service bureaus seem to be exploding here.
Although one major manufacturer told me that they would soon be announcing a plan to release a new product every month, I didn’t see a lot of new components on the show floor. Instead, many exhibitors seemed to be focused on connecting with their engineering customers through website upgrades or iPad apps. It’s about time they got on the social media marketing bandwagon.
Fluids are a big deal here, too. Chemicals are getting more expensive and that means even tubing size is an issue. Companies don’t want extra dead space in a designed system, because that’s simply full of extra (expensive) fluid—and that means smaller tubing is “in.” Smaller tubing with the same flow demands means higher pressures. In fact, I hear that the new thing for selling fluids is naming them by the number of tests they can run instead of a bulk measurement—say a “20 test bottle” instead of a “10 oz. bottle.”
Another interesting trend I heard from a couple of people was that some manufacturers were walksearching for related solutions for their customers. If that isn’t value added service, I’m not sure what is. Maybe it goes to show how difficult the sales game is in some commodity portions of the engineering universe.
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