Being a manufacturer's representative in the Science Education market, I've seen trends come and go. Some of them stick around and become staples. When I first started in the business, one area of growth was the inclusion of all encompassing kits into the science education distributor catalogs. Kits of general supplies (Glassware assortments, Hardware Kits, etc) began popping up in every catalog. These are still featured prominently in the catalogs today and proudly supplied by our principals.
Curriculum based kits were the next to grow. Many manufacturers/kit builders were seeing their product listings with the major distribution houses increase. Kits which included all materials on a particular subject matter or experiment were packaged with a teacher manual or instruction guide. Our principal, United Scientific features nearly 100 products of this type!
The next big boom came from an unlikely source, Mr. William Peterson. He may be better known the the TV viewer as "Gil Grissom". The immense success of television shows featuring forensic science, specifically the C.S.I. series, motivated manufacturers to develop CSI based kits. Open any science education catalog, they are featured in every one now! I have to think that these shows and kits have invited many young minds to consider a career in Forensic Science.
So what is the next "big thing" in the industry? My money is on Advanced Physics. Catalog placement is already growing at a rapid pace and we personally have had success with United Scientific's line of Advanced Physics. Would you like to offer these products on your website? Email me at jgura@fischertech.com and I can help get you started.
Have a great weekend and I hope to see many of you this Spring at NSTA!
John
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