Business News
Technology to the rescue at Labelexpo Americas!
Monday 04. October 2010 - Labelexpo Americas has taken place!
The largest event for the label, web printing, product decoration, converting and packaging industry in the Americas has taken place in Chicago between 14 and 16 September. Labelexpo Americas 2010 proved the industry is recovering well and is still as resilient and innovative as ever despite the stormy economic climate that we have been experiencing over the last couple of years. The show had an attendance of 12,761. By the end of the show 83% of the exhibition space had already been rebooked for Labelexpo Americas 2012.
The show saw nearly 400 national and international suppliers bringing their latest developments in technology and materials to demonstrate to the North American market. Many of the market leaders such as Nilpeter, MPS, Mark Andy, HP, Xeikon, Omet, Gallus, Esko Artwork and Prati introduced new products with many making a number of sales and using the show as a launch pad to set up new partnerships. Nilpeter sold 18 presses at the show, Mark Andy have also sold 18 to date, with enquiries still coming in, MPS sold 11, Xeikon also sold 11 and Grafotronic sold four machines directly off their stand. There were a number of Latin American printers in attendance demonstrating that there is a high level of purchasing power coming from that region.
To help attendees and exhibitors stay up to date throughout the show, Labelexpo Americas launched a free phone application (sponsored by HP). Attendees were able to instantly access the latest exhibitor list, conference program, speaker biographies and feature area information, whilst they were on the show floor.
The new technology workshops proved an enormous success, with every demonstration being fully packed out. This was a major development for Labelexpo Americas 2010 and took place in a specially dedicated feature area in Hall F. Four working presses from Nilpeter, EFI Jetrion, HP and Xeikon ran alongside each other with a neutral moderator running each demonstration to see how each press was set up to produce the same job origination on identical substrate qualities. The aim was to show attendees how to set-up and run label presses – whether conventional or digital printing – to optimize label print performance and quality, to demonstrate to them how to assess new product and market opportunities and to compare print quality and performance across different conventional and digital printing processes.
As in previous years, Labelexpo Americas had a high-level conference, organized in collaboration with TLMI. This year focused on the use of new digital technologies and solutions, and also had a strong view on the state of the industry and the market in North America across three streams. There were reviews from top editors in the industry who disclosed their opinions on the recovery process that is changing the industry, showing what the best markets to invest in are, and how to generate sales. The CEO luncheon on the second day was extremely beneficial for conference goers, with over 150 attendees gathering to hear from five of the industrys top CEOs.
Mike Fairley also ran a How to Digital Label Printing Masterclass. Label converters looking to invest in digital printing for the first time had the opportunity to attend an exclusive three-hour Masterclass in which key industry experts discussed the current state-of-the-art in digital printing, reviewed and explained the main digital printing technologies, the importance of digital pre-press, workflow and color management, highlighted label substrate requirements, explained in-line and off-line finishing options, and looked at the changing role of management, sales and marketing in a digital environment.
The Label Industry Global Awards also took place on the first night of the show with almost 500 people attending the award ceremony on the Spirit of Chicago, Navy Pier. The following winners were announced:
R. Stanton Avery Lifetime Achievement Award: Terry Fulwiler, CEO, WS Packaging Group, Inc.
Label Industry Award for Continuous Innovation: Omet
Label Industry Award for New Innovation: DG Roland
ConverterAward for Sustainability/Environmental Responsibility: Paragon Label
Roger Pellow, Labelexpo Managing Director, said: “We are very pleased with the event results. Labelexpo Americas attracted high quality of visitors who were willing to invest in new technologies and keep their businesses developing. This was evident through the sales orders put through at the show. The launch of our new Technology Workshops was a great success and is a feature that we will be rolling out across our upcoming shows due to popular demand. The show unveiled a lot of new innovative technology, and I very much look forward to seeing the industry continue to advance and thrive in the future.”
Quotes from exhibitors at Labelexpo Americas 2010:
J. Michael Rivera, AMAGIC Holographics said: “Where other show companies failed, Tarsus delivered! Labelexpo Americas was a great success and results were above our expectations. Traffic on the first two days were extremely well and it was a surprise to see many European printers attending the show. Many attendees were in the buying mood and the feeling during the entire show was upbeat. Thank you Tarsus for a great job!”
Jeff Chosid, Conversource said: “Labelexpo Americas was great for Conversource. Thanks for running an outstanding trade show that has always been, and will continue to be, a critical part of our marketing efforts.”
Michael Wagner, Delta said: “We were thrilled with the strong interest in our solutions — we met nearly twice as many new potential customers as we expected! We discovered lots of interest in our custom solutions — RFID label converting and digital print finishing, and in special capabilities like island placement, laser cutting, and in-line heat sealing.”
Juli Noel, DNP IMS Americas Corporation said: “No doubt, this is the best Labelexpo Americas that I have attended. We had a great spot and our traffic was wonderful.”
Mattias Malmqvist, Grafotronic said: “Our participation at the show was a success. It was fantastic to see how well the audience appreciated the design, the compact footprint and the easy operation of the machines. Our special Labelexpo Americas offer also attracted many customers and we sold four machines directly off the stand – well over our expectations.”
Pete Hartman, Harper Corporation of America said: “We were very happy with the recent Labelexpo Americas. We had steady traffic at our booth and overall our customers were very positive about their business outlook for the rest of 2010 and 2011. We target Labelexpo Americas to reconnect with our narrow web customers and use it as an opportunity to network with co-suppliers and see what they are bringing new to the market. We look forward to another great show in 2012.”
Nigel Walsh, Heights UK Ltd said: “The view from us on the Heights stand was a definite upbeat mood with quality people coming to the show with a real purpose and not just window shopping. Our final attendance figures surpassed our expectations with projects and plans on the table for quite a hectic follow up program.”
Tim Lydell, Label Vision Systems, Inc said: “I can vouch for the success of Labelexpo Americas 2010. We had the most leads we have ever had at an exhibition and very sound leads as well. We have already booked for 2012 with an expanded booth size.”
Mary Sullivan, Mark Andy Inc. said: “It was apparent by the large number of converters visiting our stand that the new Mark Andy Performance Series line was the highlight of Labelexpo Americas. The show was a critical in meeting our primary objective – educating converters that new flexo work flows truly deliver higher productivity for short runs. Rotoflex was also very happy to be at Labelexpo Americas where the Vericut finishing system and Genesis advanced control system were showcased with great success.”
Eric Hoendervangers, MPS Systems B.V. said: “During Labelexpo Americas 2010 we introduced the new EC printing press with Automated Print Control (APC) with great success. We believe that the number of booth visitors, their enthusiastic reactions and the large number of orders signed during the show underlined that the industry is facing the economical situation successfully. Labelexpo Americas is, amongst others, a great vehicle to keep our industry fit and up to date!”
Jakob Landberg, Nilpeter said: We had a good flow of visitors, including Latin American countries. There were far more sales opportunities than two years ago. People are coming out of their igloos. We were especially encouraged by visitors’ interest in our new FA-6 UV-flexo press. Its wider width of 22 ½ inches (570 mm) is ideal for converters entering the flexible packaging market as part of a one-stop label and packaging service. It also meets the needs of converters who regularly handle extremely long runs of conventional labels, such as 120,000 metres for example.”
Tim Daisy, Prism USA said: “Prism continues to grow in the packaging and converting marketplace and I feel that Labelexpo Americas is key to our growth. 2010 was our third and best show by far with good traffic and actionable leads.”
Karen Poole, Ryeco said: “We had a great show! We felt the buzz and increase in traffic to our booth and we have over 248 leads. Cant wait for the 2012 show!”
Mike Bacon, Spartanics said: “This years Labelexpo Americas was a great success for Spartanics. The buzz around the digital portion of the show continues to generate interest in our laser die cutting solution. The leads and corresponding orders from the show will keep us going for the next three to six months until it is time for Labelexpo Europe.”
Sheila Harper-Jones, Tectonic International Ltd said: “The show was EXCELLENT for us. The best for many years. The immediate results have astonished us! America is alive and kicking!”