Online Challenge

"Taking over IP&E in early 2006 presented a challenge because traditional product magazines were seen as old fashioned compared to online industrial search databases.

 

"While we bolstered our web offering the surprise was that this worry was completely unfounded; the magazine went from strength to strength. There appears to be a
liking for the tactile nature of magazines and while a single entry search is better on the internet, the serendipity of finding out about things that you never knew you wanted to know about provides a firm base for the future. How could you search for a new technology if you didn't know it existed?

 

"Offering the magazine electronically is essential and will undoubtedly grow in the future, but paper is still a popular format that is unlikely to be going anywhere soon.

 

Global paper consumption since 1980 has gone up by almost half, when all logic suggests it should be reducing.

"Since I left, IP&E has continued to fulfil its role as the leading industrial product magazine in the UK and with the continuing need for efficiency within manufacturing sites there is no reason why it will not be around in another 21 years.”

• Tim McManan-Smith is editor of Water, Energy & Environment journal at i2i Events Group.