Polymer Seals: Sharing Tradeshow Previews and Takeaways

As the summer sun fades into fall foliage, we’re looking ahead to one of our favorite activities; tradeshow season! We value the chance to connect with colleagues and explore the latest trends in polymer seals and other critical precision components for the automotive market.  Today on the Critical PARTner, we’re sharing previews and takeaways from the tradeshow floor.  

Where can you catch Saint-Gobain Seals this fall? 

We have big plans to attend both the CTI Symposium in Shanghai, China, BOOTH #43 (September 25-27), and the CTI Symposium in Berlin, Germany BOOTH EO2 (December 4-7). CTI (Car Training Institute) meetings are recognized as must-attend events for automotive powertrain solutions as well as technology we are quite familiar with; hybrid and electric drives.  

Which products will be on display?

We’ll be showcasing our new booth design and Meldin® VP high-performance polymer seal rings and thrust washers for transmission applications in powertrain. You can expect to see a host of Meldin® product samples – some with very interesting shapes developed from our injection molding process.  

Did you know that Meldin® can tolerate extreme temperatures with virtually no melting? Visit us at either CTI Symposium to see if you can guess how high the temperature goes! 

Did you see us this past spring?  We were everywhere!

While we’re actively planning for CTI China and Germany, we also attended CTI USA in Novi, Michigan, and IVS in Italy; both held this past May, as well as the International Paris Air Show in June and VDI Congress Drivetrain for Vehicles in July.  

What were our key takeaways from these tradeshows? 

• CTI Novi, Michigan.  CTI USA marked the first unveiling of our new booth design which was nearly 3x larger than previous designs. This expanded space allowed us to showcase how our critical parts are so crucial in core systems for the automotive market. CTI USA featured over 80 exhibitors, and 11 keynotes which highlighted new auto technology trends, legislative directives, consumer preferences and OEM strategies. 
• IVS, Italy. The IVS (Industrial Valve Summit) was held in Bergamo, Italy, and brought together the key influencers in valve technology and flow control solutions for oil and gas industry. One of the key topics was how to handle demanding performance requirements for valves. As an event speaker, we addressed this topic in a technical paper, “Development of New Generation of Seat Seals for Cryogenic Trunnion Mounted Ball Valves,” focused on LNG supply chain. Contact us to get a special version of the paper. 
• VDI Congress, Germany. Bonn marked an all-new location for VDI, and allowed the show to host over 1,500 international participants. VDI’s exhibit space was also expanded to two floors, and featured over 100 booths. Keynote talks covered commercial vehicles and transmission control.  

• Paris Air Show, France. This is the biggest of our tradeshows so far due to a collaboration with other Saint-Gobain businesses who have a passion for aerospace like us.  Innovation remained high in the air.  We introduced two programs targeting product enhancement and market satisfaction needs with the official European commercial launch of Fluoroloy® A90 and new testing capabilities for OmniSeal® PTFE rotary lip seals. 

All of these events reinforced the value of emerging technologies such as hybrid and electric drives, cryogenic valves and jet engine turbofans and turboshafts.  

Will you be attending a CTI Symposium this fall?  Let’s connect!

Share your plans in the comments section. Or if you’re unable to attend, stay in touch on the latest trends in polymer seals and critical precision components by subscribing to our blog! 

Hope to see you soon!