Business News
The Knowledge Centre embraces wider industry focus of North Print & Pack 2013 to steer packaging printers to succeed
Tuesday 26. March 2013 - Programme of over 30 sessions offers visitors free education and business advice
Packaging printers and converters visiting North Print & Pack 2013, which this year includes a wider industry focus to include packaging, will benefit from an extensive free programme of educational content. Informative talks, panel discussions, case studies and networking events are all on the agenda, with each session devised to provide printers with the tools and ideas they need to successfully embrace changes and opportunities in the market.
The Knowledge Centre at North Print & Pack 2013 comprises three distinct theatres on the show floor, each addressing a specific theme:
Theatre 1: The New Printing Landscape
Theatre 2: Thinking Outside the Box (Packaging-focussed theatre)
Theatre 3: Printers Profit Zone
Between them, visitors can build their own programme from over 30 informative and thought-provoking sessions across all three days of the event, while still allowing plenty of time to explore the technologies and services being demonstrated on the show floor.
Packaging converters and SME printers looking at print-on-packaging as an opportunity will find what they are looking for in Theatre 2, where the Thinking Outside the Box programme has been devised in collaboration with EFIA (European Flexographic Industry Association) specifically with these visitors in mind.
EFIA chairman David Galton will kick proceedings off with a look at the significance of product packaging in driving purchase and consumption. Subsequent sessions on Day 1 (Tuesday 14th May) include: Packaging as Advertising – Communicating in New Ways with the Customers; The Importance of Investing in People before Technology; The Latest Value-Added Package Techniques; and Latest Trends of Packaging in a Digital World – Maximising the On- and Offline Experience. Dick Searle, Chief Executive of The Packaging Federation, will close with a presentation on the organisation’s Myth Busters campaign.
Day 2 in the Thinking Outside The Box theatre will start with a fascinating exploration of packaging usability, delivered by self-titled ‘Chief Tinkerer’ Alistair Vince. The following presentation will look at finding better ways to package products, while the afternoon sessions, hosted by the Institute of Packaging Professionals, will cover a series of stand-out packaging case studies from high profile brands.
Day 3 will begin with a session from IoPP MD Kevin Vyse on ‘Responding to Increasing Demands for Design Accountability’, followed by Jane Bickerstaff, director of INCPEN, considering whether innovation is being stifled by the pressures of cost reduction, recycling and waste management. The lunchtime presentation from Bobst will address ‘Fitting into the Customer’s Business Plan’. Delegates can then look at the case for more sustainable practices with ‘Can You Measure the ROI for Going Green?’ The penultimate presentation will consider the impact of OpenColor on the packaging industry. The agenda will return to innovation in a final session which will be presented by Gregory Bentley, Packaging Innovator at Coca-Cola.
Theatre 1 offers a programme under the heading The New Printing Landscape, where speakers will advise and guide commercial printers on the latest trends in print and cross media, with a focus on business improvement.
Theatre 3 houses the Printers’ Profit Zone, a business-building workshop hosted by well-known advisor Nick Devine, The Print Coach. Nick is renowned for his straight-talking approach to helping printers to boost their sales, increase their profit margins and grow their print business in competitive markets.
Sales Manager for North Print & Pack 2013 Mary Buck comments; “The ever-evolving brand and marketing landscape creates new challenges for packaging, which converters and printers have to rise to in order to succeed. Materials, design, sustainability and usability are all success factors in brand packaging that the printer needs to understand. Meanwhile, developments in cross media are making printed packaging a key link in the multi-channel marketing chain.
“With the Thinking Outside the Box programme at North Print & Pack 2013, we’ve set out to help packaging printers and converters quickly grasp the fundamental issues over the three days of North Print & Pack 2013. A few hours spent in The Knowledge Centre should enhance their understanding and help them engage even more credibly and productively with brand owners.”