The coil winding, insulation and electrical manufacturing exhibition (CWIEME), held in Chicago from 8 to 10 October, attracted a large and enthusiastic visitor base from a broad range of well- known companies along with 160 exhibitors The exhibition is North America's premier meeting point for the coil winding and manufacturing industry, which provides components for use in the motor and transformer, coil, electromagnetic and insulation materials industries. CWIEME Chicago, held at the DE Stephens Convention Center, attracted some of the biggest companies in the global coil winding industry including Kienle + Spiess, Inarca, TE Connectivity, Tempel and Eurotranciatura. This year's exhibition is the first under the ownership of i2i Events Group, which acquired the event and its sister shows in Bangalore, Shanghai and Berlin in September 2012. The event included a brand new visitor program of external speakers, product and technical workshops, a round table discussion with the Transformer Association, dedicated networking events and a machinery zone, all of which was aimed at increasing participation and business opportunities for visitors. Speakers at the event included Ian Wright, CEO of Wrightspeed; Dr Babak Fahimi, Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Texas; Dr Gwynne Johnston, Vice President of Tempel Steel; Samir Kagalwala, from Power Magnetics Consultancy; and Jim Hendershot, from the IEEE. Ian Wright, CEO of Wrightspeed, which makes turbine-electric powertrains, talked extensively about electrification of the transport industry: "I think transportation will be electrified from the high power end first, improving high performance cars and high fuel consumption trucks rather than saving 200 gallons per year in little city cars. The reasons are economic: an electric power train for a medium-duty truck costs twice as much as one for a car, but saves ten times as much fuel." i2i Events Group say that this year's CWIEME has benefited from the continuing recovery of the US economy, in particular its manufacturing base. Haf Cennydd, i2i Events Group's Portfolio Director, said: "U.S. manufacturing grew last month at its fastest rate for nearly two and half years, which is acting as a pull on demand for coil winding components. In particular, sales of automobiles are at their best level for seven years, which is great news for the industry. "This has helped revitalize the sector but there is still some way to go until business confidence is fully restored. Many businesses are still holding back on the kinds of big ticket investments, such as manufacturing equipment or vehicles, which would really boost demand in the sector. "Despite this, there are some definite bright spots. Investment in the United States' transmission infrastructure is expected to remain extremely high and the wind industry is gearing up for an anticipated increase in demand. All of this is good news for exhibitors, and is one reason why this year has been seen a far greater turnout. "Speaking to exhibitors and visitors, it is also clear that i2i Events Groups additional investment in the keynote speeches, technical workshops and networking sessions have excited this year's visitors, giving them valuable commercial insights to help inform their business decisions." CWIEME
PDF
