Just over a month ago, we attended the mighty Labelexpo Europe 2019 in Belgium. The Labelexpo shows are some of the biggest in the world, and this was no exception. It was a large and very busy event, with a constant flow of traffic to our exhibition booth, and, as always, we were hugely impressed by the organisation of the event. Despite the halls being busy and well attended, the layout was open and accessible – preventing it from feeling cramped. We want to extend a huge thank you to the Labels & Packaging team and all those involved in organising this year’s event.
Our Focus Label Exhibit
This year, our exhibition booth featured fully working models of our Proflex servo flexo press, our new dFlex inkjet/flexo hybrid press, our FS330 slitter/rewinder die-cut machine, our Platemate 2 video platemounter, and our Flexosonic anilox roll cleaner.
What We Learned
The biggest trend we noticed is that printing press manufacturers are using increasingly advanced technology as standard in their new machines. This makes the sector exciting and very competitive, and we look forward to seeing what 2020 brings.
We didn’t come across any brand-new technology, but there are plenty of new developments of existing technology. These are being more widely applied in print equipment than in previous years.
We were fairly well-prepped for what to expect at Labelexpo Europe because of the other shows we’ve attended this year – especially ITMA 2019 in June. However, we were pleasantly surprised at the level of interest in our digital finishing equipment, as this is something we haven’t promoted much so far. In light of the conversations we had at the Expo we are going to develop and market this side of our offering more in the coming year.
Why We Attend Labelexpo Europe
Shows like Labelexpo Europe are really important for us to maintain our market presence. They are also good opportunities to showcase new equipment and provide demonstrations to an interested audience, especially with our international clients. You can achieve more with a face-to-face meeting and demo at an expo than you can in weeks of to-ing and fro-ing by email and phone.
We also actively enjoy these type of events! At Labelexpo last month, we had a very positive response to our equipment and made some good contacts with potential customers. We’ve been in this industry for a long time and many of our friends and long-term associates attend these events, so it’s great to catch up.
Will Focus Be Attending Again Next Time?
Yes! Labelexpo Europe is one of the highlights of our trade show calendar, and we are already making plans to attend the next event. In the meantime, there will be Labelexpos in 2020 in Chile, Thailand, Illinois (USA), and India. Not forgetting Drupa is on again in June. Closer to home we also have the Label & Print 2020 show taking place in Birmingham on 26th and 27th February 2020.
Until 2020
We will keep everyone updated about our trade show calendar for next year. In the meantime, if you’d like to chat about our equipment or follow up a conversation from Labelexpo, please get in touch. We look forward to hearing from you.
Image source: Labelexpo Europe
