Belying all apprehensions of the perceived slowdown in the economy in general and the printing industry in particular, PAMEX 2020 presented the face of a vibrant industry, raring to reinvent itself and ready to move forward with optimism. The 14th edition of the event saw a 15% growth in exhibitor area and a 20% higher visitor turnout. But the real success story of PAMEX was “not in the increased numbers alone but also in the quality and the geographical range of visitors that it attracted,” opined Deepak Chawla, general manager – Marketing, Technova. The event concluded on 9 January 2020 at the Bombay Exhibition Centre in Mumbai.
Several exhibitors reported many serious enquiries and also significant sales on the ground. The visitor enthusiasm seen a few months before the major Industry event, drupa, held great portends for the international industry players that are looking to India to provide an even greater footfall to the international event than the 19,000 printers that it sent in the last edition.
The world thought leaders converged in the parallel WPCF conference to brief the printers on new industry trends and opportunities as they gear themselves to meet the growing challenges posed by shrinking traditional business and changing customer expectations. The industry also honored its stalwarts at the VCLA award and celebrated the excellence of its printers at the NAEP Awards in glittering functions that added a lot of allure to the ongoing exhibition.
“The success of an event of this magnitude does not happen as a co-incidence. A lot of meticulous planning and hard work goes into the promotion and organizing of the event. I congratulate the entire AIFMP and Print-Packaging team for pulling off a great exhibition with such élan,” said Kamal Chopra, chairman, PAMEX, who had spearheaded an International Outreach Program and a grassroots Print Odyssey in the months leading to the exhibition.
The next edition of PAMEX will be held from 23 to 26 March 2022 at the same venue and will include a separate hall for the label industry suppliers.
2023 promises an interesting ride for print in India
Indian Printer and Publisher founded in 1979 is the oldest B2B trade publication in the multi-platform and
multi-channel IPPGroup. While the print and packaging industries have been resilient in the past 33 months since the pandemic lockdown of 25 March 2020, the commercial printing and newspaper industries have yet to recover their pre-Covid trajectory.
The fragmented commercial printing industry faces substantial challenges as does the newspaper industry.
While digital short-run printing and the signage industry seem to be recovering a bit faster, ultimately
their growth will also be moderated by the progress of the overall economy. On the other hand book
printing exports are doing well but they too face several supply-chain and logistics challenges.
The price of publication papers including newsprint has been high in the past year while availability is diminished by several mills shutting down their publication paper and newsprint machines in the past four years. Indian paper mills are also exporting many types of paper and have raised prices for Indian printers. To some extent, this has helped in the recovery of the digital printing industry with its on-demand short-run and low-wastage paradigm.
Ultimately digital print and other digital channels will help print grow in a country where we are still far behind in our paper and print consumption and where digital is a leapfrog technology that will only increase the demand for print in the foreseeable future. For instance, there is no alternative to a rise in textbook consumption but this segment will only reach normality in the next financial year beginning on 1 April 2023.
Thus while the new normal is a moving target and many commercial printers look to diversification, we believe that our target audiences may shift and change. Like them, we will also have to adapt with agility to keep up with their business and technical information needs.
Our 2023 media kit is ready, and it is the right time to take stock and reconnect with your potential markets and customers. Print is the glue for the growth of liberal education, new industry, and an emerging economy. We seek your participation in what promises to be an interesting ride.
