Leisure industries

A.E Whelan, London School of Polymer Technology. Report 14 Polymers and Their Uses in the Sports and Leisure Industries, A.L. Cox and R.R Brown, Rapra Technology Ltd. 

APUs are manifold. They reach from the small scale such as traffic lights or standalone measurement instruments over the medium scale such as laptops to the larger scale such as the automotive and leisure industry (e.g. boats and caravans). In the last couple of years the worldwide research and development focus has moved from the drive trains to APUs, which is the less challenging task concerning system dynamics and start-up time. 

Fibre-reinforced thermoplastics, such as glass fibre-reinforced nylon, are increasingly used as substitute for wood, metallic or ceramic materials in applications for which high strength and temperature are not decisive parameters. They are being incorporated into components in the automotive, naval, sport and leisure industries due to the potential of reduced production costs of lighter parts and recycling possibilities. 

Neoptden . [BASF AG] Potyethyleneor polyiuopylene foams fw cu ioning and tesiUence tpplics. in pkg building trsufe, maritime, automotive, spmt, recreation, leisure industries. 

In spite of the present cloudy skies, forecasts for the future inspire reasonable optimism. The next 10 years are expected to see a growth in the airline business, due to the increases in living standards, international trade and the leisure industry. The next decade looks very promising for space activities as well and European industry will have the opportunity of showing its maturity and capabilities in several programmes that will take it into the 21st century. 

The experiences made have shown that biocomposites can be excellently processed to make structural material. The weight-related mechanical properties make it possible to strive for application areas that are still dominated by glass fibre-reinforced plastics. At this time, limitations must be accepted in areas with extreme environmental conditions. Main target groups therefore are, for example, panelling elements in automobile and freight car manufacturing, the furniture industry and the entire market of the sports and leisure industry. 

In the sports and leisure industry 1 found a large number of users located in the company. This became especially observable vidien I talked to employees of sports firms at the fairs 1 visited. Almost all front-line employees (i.e. those employees in direct contact with customers and users) were users themselves. Trying to quantify the phenomenon 1 asked my interviewees to estimate what share of employees they believed to be embedded users in the sporting industry, my informants estimated on average, that 75% of the employees were users, in the leisure industry the estimated share was a little lower, at 60%. 

During innovation they draw on this knowledge, e.g. when they ideate based on problems, which they experience during product use (e.g. Leisured, 8 Sport ). One manager from the leisure industry puts it this way ... 

Other maikets leisure industry apphcations, machine tools, furniture, medical. 

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