Fespa Global Print Expo 2021 to take place in spring

Exhibitor community lines up for event

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Fespa
Exhibitor community lines up for Fespa Global Print Expo 2021

Fespa Global Print Expo and European Sign Expo 2021 (9-12 March 2021, RAI Amsterdam, The Netherlands) are attracting a growing line-up of exhibitors, all enthusiastic to engage with customers and prospects face-to-face after a year reliant on digital platforms to communicate and share product news.


The floor plan for the co-located events is building out steadily, with 200+ exhibiting companies already committed to participating in Spring next year and many more in active discussions. The expanding exhibitor list includes many names in screen, digital wide format, and textile print, representing the entire production workflow from output technologies and workflow tools to media and inks.


Fespa chief executive officer Neil Felton comments, “Since we opened the dialogue with our exhibitors about the Spring 2021 events, we’ve heard a consistent message – they can’t wait to be at a live Fespa event again, interacting in person with people that have an appetite to learn, be inspired and make considered investments to drive their businesses forward out of the current crisis. They see the event as a vital springboard to the sector’s sustained recovery.”


“From the visitor’s perspective, senior decision-makers in specialty print and signage businesses are telling us that they want the opportunity to see the latest products and solutions close up, to compare and contrast what’s on offer from different vendors under one roof, and to be inspired again by getting away from a computer screen and interacting with product experts and industry peers in the real world. The virtual alternatives just don’t meet their needs.”

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Fespa 2019

Visitors to the Fespa exhibition in March will see the latest hardware innovations from companies including Agfa, Brother, Canon, d.gen, Durst, Polyprint DTG, Zund, Summa, and swissQprint; substrates from suppliers including 3A Composites, Ahlstrom Munksjö, Avery Dennison, and Hexis; workflow and colour management software from vendors including Barbieri, Caldera, OneVision and Onyx Graphic; and consumables from suppliers including CHT Group, Zhuhai Print-Rite, and Sts Inks. Signage professionals will also be able to see the latest innovations in non-printed signage, with confirmed exhibitors including CADlink Technology, Efka Led Frames, and Ledit Yaki.


Folker Stachetzki, marketing manager at Brother, the gold sponsor for Fespa Global Print Expo 2021, comments on the company’s confidence in the event, “Fespa is the most important trade fair for us to present our new products live to a wide audience. The cancellation of the trade fair in 2020, as well as all other restrictions caused by the pandemic, were tough for us, as probably for almost everyone. We’re therefore looking forward to Fespa 2021, to meet interested visitors, to exchange experiences with other exhibitors, and to be able to show our new direct-to-garment printer and other innovations from Brother in front of the public again.”


Neil Felton concludes, “We’re delighted to see the positive appetite from both exhibitors and visitors to be back at a Fespa event, affirming the role we play in connecting this global specialty printing and sign-making community. In our capacity as the event organizer, we’re working hard to create a Covid-secure environment for both parties to do business in, drawing on the expertise and best practices of our team, the RAI Amsterdam venue, our specialist independent contractors, and the wider event industry.”

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.

– Naresh Khanna

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