ICERP 2004

International Conference and Exhibition on Reinforced Plastics 2004, the second event in the ICERP series was held at Chennai Trade Centre, Chennai during Feb.12-14.2006.

The event was held in the air-conditioned Hall 1 of Chennai Trade Centre over an area of 3300 sq.m. There were 78 stall units (one unit is 3 M x 3 M plan size) this time compared to 28 stalls in ICERP 2002. This itself has shown the level to which ICERP 2004 has grown. Since there was no conference hall readily available at the Chennai Trade Centre, a conference hall was specially created with all the facilities inside Hall I itself with LCD projection, excellent sound control, and capacity for accommodating conference lectures, dining hall and registration counters.

INAUGURAL SESSION

The programme was inaugurated in a gala function held at 1600 Hrs on 12 th February 2004. Prof. V. S. Ramamurthy, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, New Delhi inaugurated the programme. Nearly, 600 persons including conference delegates, exhibitors, invitees and representatives of Composites Industries attended the inaugural session.

The Inaugural Session was presided over by Mr. Raj purohit, Chairman, Chemical Process Equipment Ltd., Mumbai, who is the doyen of the Indian Composites Industry. During his Presidential Address Mr. Raj Purohit gave a brief overview of the development of composites industry in India. Prof. V. S. Ramamurthy emphasised the need for bringing quality certification in some of the FRP products that are marketed for mass consumption. He said the general public have no access to formal test methods and quality specifications and have no means to verify scientifically whether the products are durable and are rightly made for serving the purpose. Formal product certifications will be useful to ensure quality of the products. It is a very appropriate advice to the FRP industry and if implemented, it can encourage the public to use composites products with confidence. Many products like roofing sheets, water tanks and doors are being marketed with substandard quality. Quality certifications like IS markings can help to upgrade the level of quality.

Mr Steve Nowak, Vice President, Market Development, Owens Corning Fibreglass USA, gave the key - note address in which he made a few suggestions to the Indian Composites Industry. He said that Composites is a “ great industry for a noble cause. The industry could take off rapidly and “only a couple of pieces missing in this rapid growth. He mentioned that a customer must be brought into the value chain. There is a need to prepare specifications, which will be helpful to communicate and educate the users. He has however raised two points during his presentation, which requires some debate within the industry. One was about the role of technologists. Some times it is possible that the technologists would say that “I like this and I need this, but the customer may want something else. If such a thing happens, it is not desirable role for the technologists. Technologists should aim for achieving the users needs. At the same time, they have a duty to see the users needs on a long term basis and they have to serve as watch dogs to over - see that the technology shall be durable and shall not affect adversely the safety and health of the users and the long term preservation of the environment. It is because the technologists failed to fulfil this role, problems arose in the past in the use of asbestos fibre, high alumina cement and CFC. In the composites industry also, there is a need to evaluate the developments taking the long-term safety and needs of the users.

The second point raised by Mr. Nowak was more an advice to the Indian Composites industry. He suggested that the Industry must concentrate on Indian market and need not worry about exports. This may perhaps be a wrong thing to do by the Indian industry at this juncture. For a very long time, the Indian industry was cut off from the global market with no access to materials or technology. After globalisation of the Indian economy, there is an opportunity for the Indian composites industry to interact with raw materials suppliers, fabricators and users abroad. It is true that India has a vast market and there can be sufficient work for them by supplying products within India. However exports can help them to learn about the technology, materials and products being used abroad, upgrade their product quality bringing them on par with that of other countries and to buy technology, machinery and materials for his production. Export is therefore a must for the Indian Composites industry. ICERP 2004 has been aiming to develop the global interaction and export.

EXHIBITION

The real thrust of ICERP 2004 was on the exhibition. It started with a plan to have 66 stalls, but due to demand, the number had to be increased to 78. A total of 19 exhibitors from abroad opened up 34 stall units. The participation included from Austria, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, China, Germany, Middle East, Russia, U.K. and U.S.A. The Indian exhibitors occupied the remaining stalls.

A sizable number of stalls were displaying raw materials including glass fibre, carbon fibre, resins, stitched mats, core materials, pigments, etc. Process machinery for filament winding, VARTM, spray up etc. there also on display. A demonstration of VARTM by Plastech and Alan Harper was as usual a star attraction. The products developed by Hindiustan Aeronautics Limited and National Aerospace Laboratories were on display. The box contains a list of exhibitors from both India and abroad.

About 6000 persons visited the exhibition. A sizable numbers of them were fabricators from all over India. Ten percent of the visitors were from user industries and about ten percent from educational institutions.