Growth high on the agenda at Fespa 2023

While Fespa’s last two flagship shows, Amsterdam in 2021 and Berlin last year, were well received, the 2023 Global Print Expo in Munich felt like a definitive return to the buzz and excitement last seen in… Munich, back in 2019, the final pre-Covid outing for the event.

This year, there was a strong sense that attendees wanted to learn more, make investments, and do all they could to differentiate their businesses.

Running with the theme, ‘New Perspectives’, Fespa and the co-located European Sign Expo and new Personalisation Experience welcomed more than 500 exhibiting companies and attracted 14,776 unique visitors, up 26.9% on the number that visited Berlin last year, albeit 28.9% down on the 2019 Munich show. Over 54% of the delegates, 22757 people attended on multiple days. This is a 42.5% increase over last year.

Most of the returning exhibitor were Asian businesses who were unable, due to travel restrictions to attend previous events post-Covid. They were happy to return.

Yuwei Hsu, founder of Taiwanese Perspex picture frame specialist Crystalframe, said there had been groups of people on the company’s stand talking about authorisation to use its patent.

“I was so glad to have four days at Fespa – enough time to explain the product. Without an explanation, people just walk on.”

Daniel Yang, director at Chinese sign materials supplier Vallen Decoration Materials, added: “It’s perfect, because after three years of Corona time, we have a chance to talk face-to-face. Everything has gone very well, and we have met a lot of our own clients and new friends here, which means there is a lot of new opportunities in the near future.”

Sustainability Spotlight will feature innovative textile and graphic substrates as well as the Fespa Awards and World Wrap Masters finals. The show was a huge success, and many exhibitors promoted green products at the event.

Texo Trade Services director Floris Jan van den Heuvel said visitors were “very interested” in the company’s new textile recycling service.

“We were also showing that we’re in the pilot stage of recycling the silicone edge on the graphics, which will be recycled as filling for the furniture industry.”

He also praised the quality of Fespa visitors: “If you’re serious in visual communications and digital printing then you should come here, and they mostly do.”

Simon Daplyn, product marketing manager at Sun Chemical, added: “Sustainability has always been there in the background, but people are taking it more seriously now in terms of looking at the different ways to use product to reduce waste, or make sure printers have got a lot of uptime, or change their processes. There are a lot of people talking about new technologies or cleaner ways they can achieve the same result.”

The show also featured other key trends, including automation, users’ requests to print on more difficult substrates like leather or non-porous material, the growth of direct-to film (DTF) technologies, and the growing trend for personalisation.

Arjen Evertse, general manager sales at Mimaki Europe, said: “People want to be unique, which is not something new. The desire for people to have something of their own – for personalised products – has always been there but the technology to make it wasn’t, so when the technology arrived people started to realise what is now possible.”

Evertse, who is the CEO of Mimaki, said that while Mimaki showed its first DTF print, the TxF15075, at Fespa, textile printing has played a significant role in its business since around 20 years. He said that both sustainability and personalisation are driving its textile business unit’s continued growth.

Mathew Faulkner of Canon Europe’s Wide Format Printing Group EMEA director for marketing and innovation lauded Fespa on introducing the Personalisation Experience.

“With the opportunities and this new dawn in the era of personalisation, it’s fantastic to see them bringing those ideas and opening those conversations.”

He added: “We’re fully back to live events which is great to see because people in our industry are very tech savvy; they really roll their sleeves up and understand the technology and what it can do for them, and they’re eager to think about new services they can offer, what the applications are, and what the available media is. This environment is really great for that.”

HP Large Format global strategy director Oscar Vidal was also positive: “Fespa is a natural fit for an industry that is very connected; it’s like a big community that likes to come and get together. Face-to face is important in these industries and Fespa offers a unique chance to bring all of these things together.

“We do quite a lot of business at Fespa, both closing business but also generating business; it’s very important as it helps you to get to know new customers.”

Adrian Zesiger, eProductivity Software (ePS) sales director EMEA, felt the show had gone “very well”.

“We met a lot of interesting customers, who are really looking to streamline their workflow and find smart solutions. We got more leads and more people showed up. [compared to last year].”

He added: “It looks like the market is picking up again. Last year, people didn’t know what was coming to them with the energy price [increases]; this year they see further down the road and say ‘okay, we want to reinvest, we want to move forward’. So that’s all really positive.”

Fespa’s 2024 Global Print Expo will be held from 19-22 March at the RAI exhibition centre in Amsterdam. European Sign Expo, the Personalisation Experience, and Sportswear Pro are all returning to the event.

OPINION

The quality of visitors is important

Michael Ryan, Fespa’s Global Print Expo Director

“People were happy to be back – for many people it was four years since they had been able to go to a Fespa show because we have had restrictions of travel and it’s been complicated, but it seemed that everyone decided to come to Munich. We had very positive feedback from exhibitors, stands were busy – some people were busy every single minute of every day, and machinery was being bought.

Fespa is different because of the quality of its audience. Our collaboration with everyone is evident in the results. We specifically target the right people and bring them to the event.

Our campaign this year was ‘New Perspectives’, so we had to look at the variety of applications, and many manufacturers were showing the future of the industry – there was lots of innovation. It was interesting to see the new exhibitors – web-to-print, software, and front-end companies were attracted by new areas like the Personalisation Experience, and it was also good to have the Asian exhibitors back again and engaging with the industry.

You could see sustainability all over the event. People were introducing new materials, but it was also about highlighting efficiencies – whatever you can do to run your business more efficiently is good for the future. Personalisation was another major trend – customisation was everywhere, in every hall – that is an area of development for Fespa, which is why it was great to have exhibitors here for the Personalisation Experience.

Munich is a central European destination, so it’s well placed, and operationally and logistically the venue has the facility to host Fespa shows – it ticked all the boxes. Next year we’ll be back at the RAI in Amsterdam, and will be using both areas of that venue, which will give us a lot more space. It will be a focused event, and we’ll be expanding further with European Sign Expo and the Personalisation Experience.”

REACTIONS OF READERS

What did you think of this year’s show?

Paul Manninganaging director, Rapidity

“We loved Fespa. Nearly every stand we went to had a new machine or new capabilities and that’s what we want to see at the end of the day. It’s obviously an industry that’s thriving – it was hit hard during Covid but bounced back very quickly, which is great to see. It’s interesting that all the kit manufacturers are doing different things; obviously there’s a trend of green initiatives but it wasn’t just everyone doing the same kind of thing with a different looking machine, it’s actually different, from latex to UV, to UV gels, whatever it might be.”

Nicole Spencer, managing director, RMC Digital Print

“I really enjoyed the show this year. The show was busy, and there was a buzz in the air. It was wonderful to catch up with old and new friends. I saw many automation ideas. Personalisation was also seen on stands and in the print area. Many people think that personalisation only involves a product with their name on it, but there’s so much more. We’ve seen, from our clients’ work, more retailers asking for personalisation within their individual stores.”

Mahmoud Samy, product manager large-format printing, Heliozid Oce Emirates

“Most of the brands brought new technologies which hadn’t been seen before, which was good. Fespa shows are great because they allow you to see what’s new, meet people and meet people in your region. This was my first time at Fespa; it’s bigger than what’s happening in Dubai though Fespa is coming there next year. I would definitely come again – let’s see what happens after the Dubai show, whether they come to us every year!”

FESPA 2020: KEY ANNOUNCEMENT ROUNDUP

Canon extends Arizona family

Canon used Fespa for the launch of two new models within its Arizona 1300 flatbed series, which feature the Flow zone-free Vacuum System. This system boosts productivity and is a great way to increase efficiency. The GTF, XTF, and 1300 GT models are now available. The machines are aimed at the growing middle-volume segment and feature variable print speed of up to 52,8sqm/hr. They can print on rigid media or flexible media up to 1.25×2.5m or 2.5×3.08m for the XTF. Mathew Faulkner, EMEA director, marketing and innovation, Wide Format Printing Group, Canon Europe, said: “With the added Flow technology and automation enhancements, these new models deliver the proven Arizona quality and versatility, but make production quicker and easier than ever.”

Fujifilm unveils hybrid 

Fujifilm launched its Acuity Hybrid printer at Fespa. The manufacturer unveiled its fresh ‘Blueprint’ for wide-format at last year’s show, and 12 months on it showcased a number of enhancements to the range. Acuity Prime Hybrid took centre stage, with its top speed of up to 150sqm/hr. It can handle rigid substrates measuring up to 2.5×1.25m and roll media as wide as 2m.

Durst expands P5 family 

Durst Group announced the expansion of its P5 portfolio. The P5 350 HSR Roll-to-Roll for high-speed applications was added, as well as a new robotics system. The 670sqm/hr LED roll-to roll printer with a 3.5m wide can be fitted with a one-tonne master roll, and can also be configured in D4 with double CMYK. The manufacturer attracted crowds by unveiling P5 Robotics, a hybrid P5 350 HS system D4 with two Kuka robotic feeder/stackers for unmanned production.

Sky Air-Ship demos SkyJet

Sky Air-Ship, a Chinese manufacturer, demonstrated its SkyJet dual-sided textile print for the first-time at Fespa. The technology can be used to print a range of products including flags and banners, backlits, and high-end luxury cottons such as scarves and claims “perfect registration”. SkyJet printers come in 3m, 5m and 2m widths with either Epson heads or up to 28 Kyocera head. Pricing starts from €125,000 (£109,000).

Flora targets packaging 

Flora introduced its 2.5m C25h pro inkjet presses to the European market at Munich. The 600×1,200dpi, single-pass press can run at 1,200sqm/hr. It is designed for high-volume packaging. It was launched first in Asia in the year 2021. The press can automatically handle boards up to 1.35m in width or manually manage boards up to 2.5m. It is also capable of running three- or four-passes at 400 or 300 sqm/hr. With feeder and stacker, the Pro model with 12 Epson 4200 printheads costs around €200,000.

Brother expands its market reach 

Brother presented a trio new machines at Fespa 2023, including the WF1 latex printer, its first wide-format machine. The sub €20,000 WF1 is a 1.6m-wide, 15sqm/hr resin printer that uses Brother’s inkjet technology and proprietary inks in a Roland DG frame, following collaboration between the two manufacturers. It was launched at the show alongside Brother’s new extended-colour model GTX 600 Extra Colours, and its new direct-to-film, roll-to-roll.

CarbonQuota’s new calculator 

Carbon Quota launched the CarbonQuota Essentials calculator, a new software-as-a-service product. The company said that by integrating with third-party software, machine learning, and a range of other tools, the tool automatically calculates the carbon footprint for print and packaging. This information is then provided to customers via quotations and printer reports.

Azon goes ‘maintenance free’ 

Azonprinter has launched its Primo Plus Neon 600mm Direct-to-Film (DTF), Transfer Printer. It replaces the Pronto Plus Neon. The new 10-colour, €23,760 machine features several “quality-of-life” upgrades which make it “maintenance free”, including automatic cleaning, ink agitation and recirculation.

Plastgrommet’s new trio 

Plastgrommet has launched three new machines to automate and optimise various tedious finishing tasks. Roll2Roll Welding allows you to weld the two sides of rolls. Roll2Roll Eyeleting Pro is an automated eyeleting on both side of a roller with a motorised cutting system to cut banners at a specified length. TrackXpress is a sideways moving automatic eyelet press with a track attached to a finish table. All three machines will be available as soon as possible.

Antigro offers smart personalisation 

Antigro Designer, a Fespa exhibitor, debuted their easy-to use personalisation software. The AI-powered program allows consumers to create complex products such as multi-image canvasses and tee-shirts and to see a 3-D preview of the final product. Co-founder and chief revenue officer Waclaw Mostowski demonstrated the power of the system at the show by snapping a selfie, turning his headshot into a cut-out and adding it to a fun t-shirt design using a repeated image – all within seconds.