Now that the dust has settled from drupa, industry eyes are turning to Melbourne in anticipation of PacPrint13 and, with just 12 months to go until doors open on the region’s premier industry event, word from exhibition organisers is that the show is well on track to be ‘unmissable’.
According to Exhibition Director Paul Baker from Reed Exhibitions, more than 45% of floor space at the show has already been booked, with many leading names like Fujifilm/Fuji-Xerox Australia, Ricoh, Agfa, Konica Minolta, Cyber, Oce-Canon, GBC Australia, Jet Technologies, Aldus Engineering, Ferrostaal, Muller Martini, Venus Hartung, DES and Anitech, already locked in, along with a host of smaller exhibitors.
“This is a great result so far out from the show and indicates just how important PacPrint is to suppliers right across the print and graphic communications industry,” he said today. “As always, it’s interesting to see how the show reflects the very dynamic nature of the industry and we are seeing this with several key exhibitors such as Ricoh, Muller Martini and Fujifilm/Fuji-Xerox Australia already confirming that they will significantly increase their presence from the last show in 2009.”
As well as digital and on-demand technologies, workflow innovation, sustainability and wide-format are expected to be key trends at the Melbourne show, he added, alongside the more traditional print and finishing technologies which still account for the vast majority of print products produced.
“In many sectors, change is ‘evolutionary’ rather than ‘revolutionary’,” agrees Ian Martin, PacPrint13 Chairman, noting that the latest drupa exhibition was a mix of both and that this trend was expected to continue at PacPrint next year.
“The importance of shows like PacPrint is that they give local businesses – particularly the very many who were not able to make it to drupa – the opportunity to see technology and trends first hand and to gather important ideas about how these can be harnessed to complement existing offerings and to create new, profitable revenue streams,” he said.
“We are very excited by the discussions we’re having with potential exhibitors and look forward to welcoming them to the show over the coming months as we get closer to May 2013. However, even at this early stage PacPrint13 is shaping up as an ‘ideas-rich’ show which will help decision-makers translate all the talk about trends, innovation and improvements into practical strategies and investment plans they can implement for their own business success.”
With plenty to talk about and the opportunities provided by the relatively strong economies in this region, the exhibitors already on board are clearly excited by the potential PacPrint13 offers.
“Shows like PacPrint13 allow us to demonstrate the very latest advances at the local level, so that all our customers can benefit from seeing the trends and technologies which can help ensure their ongoing success,” says Muller Martini’s Livio Barbagallo. “Visitors to PacPrint13 can expect to see a selection of the technology Muller Martini demonstrated at drupa – a ‘summary’, if you like – which has been tailored to suit the needs of businesses in this part of the world.
“Our involvement in PacPrint is also a show of support for the industry,” he adds. “We absolutely believe in the strength of our industry and in the very real potential here in Australia, New Zealand and the wider Asia Pacific region. Our involvement in PacPrint13 demonstrates our commitment to supporting our customers as they plan for the future.”
This is a common theme with exhibitors – Mitch Mulligan from Bottcher says, “In an industry characterised by such rapid change, the chance to see how the future is shaping up – and to plan exactly how you’ll navigate the next few years – is vital. Particularly for those unable to travel to drupa, PacPrint is the very best opportunity to do that, all under one roof.
“That’s undoubtedly the reason it has always been such a successful show in terms of exhibitor quality, visitor numbers and outcomes, and we’re expecting next year’s show to be every bit as strong. We’ll certainly be showing the very latest evolution in our own technologies and are looking forward to the opportunity to engage with our customers and articulate how we can help them...for us, it’s unmissable.”
Ricoh, too, will be bringing some of its drupa highlights to Melbourne according to the company’s Mark Katrakis. “Ricoh showed off some really exciting innovations at drupa, like Clickable Paper – and we’ll be looking to up the ante at PacPrint13!” he says. “It’s a really important show for Ricoh and, of course, it’s the first big event since the local integration of InfoPrint and the announcement of our strategic partnership with Heidelberg...so PacPrint13 visitors will be able to see how far Ricoh has come since 2009.”
And the highlights don’t end there. As well as these and other exhibits one would expect at PacPrint, visitors to the 2013 show will undoubtedly enjoy the added value offered by the now well-established PacPrint Forum Series, plus the bonus of open access to the wide-format and display technology at the co-located Visual Impact Image Exhibition (VIIE) – both a source of even more information and ideas.
“There’s no question that the coming few years will be a testing time for our industry,” says Martin, “but we believe it will also be a time of enormous opportunity. We are committed to ensuring that PacPrint13 will be the best opportunity for decision-makers from Australia, New Zealand and the wider Asia-Pacific region to get the information – and inspiration – they need to chart their course for success in these challenging times.”
Pacprint13
www.pacprint.com.au
