New perspectives at Fespa Global Print Expo 2023

The print Expo, European Sign Expo and Personalization Experience

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Fespa
FESPA is scheduled for 23 to 26 May 2023 at Messe Munich in Germany.

From 23 – 26 May 2023, Messe Munich in Germany is in for three exciting events – the Fespa Global Print Expo, the European Sign Expo and the inaugural Fespa Personalization Experience, which will help visitors from around the world gain new perspectives on specialty print, signage and visual communications.

With over 550 exhibitors, including AGFA, Aleph, Brother, Canon, Durst, efi, Fujifilm, Hanglory, Hexis, HP, MHM, Mimaki, Ricoh, Roland, Sun Chemical, Surfex and Swissqprint, the events showcase the latest innovations for digital wide format, screen and textile printing, garment decoration and signage.

Fespa is a global federation of 37 national associations for the screen printing, digital printing and textile printing community. Since its inception over 50 years ago, Fespa has been supporting the print community via successful exhibitions, events and publications, providing education and networking opportunities.

Visitors can expect to discover an array of new technologies and consumables, with exhibitors emphasizing production efficiency, application flexibility, sustainability and personalization.

New this year, the Personalization Experience conference is offering delegates the opportunity to learn about the psychology and behavioral science that makes personalization so appealing, the commercial value of personalization, and how digital transformation, technology and software solutions enable customization.

The conference is running alongside an experiential exhibition space, where visitors can explore personalization-enabling solutions from suppliers, including Antigro Designer, DreamScape, Infigo, Printbox and Taopix. Visitors could go through the process of designing, ordering and fulfilling of personalized products in the Personalization Experience Zone.

In the exhibition space, delegates can see the latest products enabling personalization from suppliers including Antigro Designer, Brother, Doogma, DreamScape, Infigo, photocenter3D, OKI, Optius, Print&Logistics, Printbox, Taopix, Zakeke and XMPie.

Mike Horsten, head of Textiles at AGFA NV; Guy Alroy, Co-Founder of Early Vision; Chris Schowalter, Global Sales director at Fiery Display Graphics; Stuart Maclaren, CEO of YPP; Eray Basar, CEO of IMG.LY and Angelo Coletta, CEO of Zakeke have now joined the line-up of 25 confirmed speakers.

Michael Ryan, head of FESPA Global Print Expo, says, “The power of a live Fespa event is that, in addition to having access to hundreds of potential suppliers, visitors can also network with like-minded business owners and exchange ideas and experiences to gain valuable new perspectives. With an incredible array of products, a strong line-up of inspirational show features, as well as our new Personalization Experience, we can’t wait to welcome our international visitor and supplier community in Munich.”

Co-located in hall A2, the European Sign Expo is presenting a range of innovations in signage and visual communications. Over 75 suppliers are showing the latest in channel lettering, dimensional signage, digital signage, display systems, engraving and etching, illuminated displays, LED, neon, out-of-home media and sign tools.

Located in hall B2 stand 61, the Sustainability Spotlight material showcase features a wide range of environmentally responsible graphics and textile material samples, including leather and leather alternatives, natural fibers, cellulosics and synthetics. Accompanying information cards enable visitors to learn more about the substrates’ sustainable attributes and how to produce innovative, environmentally-conscious products.

For the first time since 2019, visitors to the Fespa Global Print Expo 2023 can also explore the shortlisted entries from the Fespa Awards in the West Entrance of Messe Munich. Over 210 submissions from 34 countries have been received and judged by a panel of independent experts and the category winners will be announced in a VIP ceremony on 24 May.

In hall B2, the winners of the World Wrap Masters Europe qualifying event will go on to the Final on Thursday 25 and Friday 26 May, where they will compete against the winners of the regional heats from Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Japan, Mexico, The Netherlands, Norway and UK & Ireland. The Final consists of a series of events requiring competitors to wrap cars and surprise objects against the clock. Visitors interested in vehicle wrapping can also access free daily training workshops and demonstrations delivered in conjunction with The Wrap Institute (stand B2-C83).

To help visitors maximize their time at the Munich events, Fespa has invested in a new event app. Downloadable from the App Store and Google Play, the Fespa app helps delegates plan their visit by giving a comprehensive overview of exhibitors and other attendees and the event agenda. In addition, it features a scheduling and personalized diary function for meetings and conference sessions.

To register for FESPA Global Print Expo 2023 and the co-located European Sign Expo and Personalisation Experience, visit: https://www.fespaglobalprintexpo.com/.

(Nessan Cleary is covering Fespa 2023 for Indian Printer and Publisher. He can be contacted at www.nessancleary.co.uk )

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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