Two-thirds of the visitors at FESPA 2018 dedicated more than one day to the event to cover the 10 exhibition halls and take advantage of the expanded content programme, including European Sign Expo, the FESPA Trend Theatre, an enlarged Printeriors showcase, the new Print Make Wear garment production feature, and the first-ever Digital Corrugated Experience for packaging and POS. These repeat visits brought total event attendance at FESPA 2018 Global Print Expo to 33,799.

FESPA’s sustained coverage of innovations in textile printing was reflected in the fact that one in three 2018 visitors indicated an interest in textile and fabric printing. Commercial print, finishing, design to print, sublimation printing and industrial printing also featured particularly strongly among visitors’ priorities for the event. As demonstrated by the entrance of the show, FESPA ran the scheme this year called Printeriors, which saw entrants from around the globe submit designs. The winners were chosen, and the final designs were showcased for visitors.

Influencing exhibitors

Key exhibitors at the expo comprised big name printer/machine manufacturers including Efi, Mimaki, EPSON, HP, Canon, MUTOH, Roland, Massivit 3D and many others demonstrating advanced technologies for unique applications for wall graphics, textile printing, 3D printing, so on. As textile and interior design was a running theme at the expo, Canon chose to highlight productivity, displaying a diverse applications portfolio. A major showcase at the company’s stall was a robotic arm engineered in partnership with Rolan Robotics. The robot was part of the print- and-cut workflow which linked the Océ Arizona 6170 XTS flatbed printer with the Océ Pro Cut cutting table.

Roland DG demonstrated the broadest range of print & cut and UV-LED solutions at the expo. In the Print & Cut category, the company showcased its latest generation TrueVIS eco-solvent wide-format printer/cutters along with SOLJET and VersaEXPRESS eco-solvent wide-format printers and CAMM-1 GR series cutters. In the personalisation & retail and display, the showcase included Roland VersaUV LEF desktop UV-LED series, VersaUV industrial flatbed and hybrid devices, Roland Texart XT-640.

ColorJet India presented a range of UV and textile printing solutions at the expo. Among the machines that the Indian wide-format inkjet printer manufacturer demonstrated was the 3.2 m VULCAN UV RTR, which offers Electro Static Absorber System (ESAS) that absorbs static electricity from the media, improving productivity and ensures easy trouble-free prints. The company also showcased TXF digital printer that runs on pigment inks giving variable dot control for achieving smooth halftones.

Mimaki pulled out all stops at FESPA 2018, showcasing from 3D solutions to UV-curable print-and-cut systems. The line included innovative solutions for the signage graphics, industrial, textile, and the rapidly developing 3D markets. Mimaki was also a key participant in several of FESPA’s special exhibits, such as the World Wrap Masters competition, Printeriors, and the new textile feature Print Make Wear.

FUJIFILM showcased its Acuity B1 printer available in 3.2m. Designed for quality and productivity, the Acuity features advanced UV ink technology and ultra-advanced printheads. Acuity B1 is a revolutionary innovation, which combines something the industry won’t witness anywhere else. Another crowd-pulling showcase at the company’s stall was the Onset-X corrugated printing system.

COSIGN revealed new innovations in light boxes using LUCOLED LEDs at the expo.

Printed on Roland LEC-330 UV system, the company co-exhibits with LUCOLED, as they use the latter’s EL-30 LEDs in their light boxes. The showcase reflected the company’s competency in architectural signage & way-finding solutions, poster frames & displays, LED modules and sign making tools. Based in Belgium with regional offices in India, Mexico and Brazil, and through its global partner network, COSIGN solutions are available in more than 85 countries. AXYZ International pulled huge crowd of trade visitors, who were excited to the CNC router’s high-performance routing spindle and combined tangential/oscillating knife-cutting units. Key design features of the advanced Trident system include a rigid solid steel frame construction to better accommodate more vigorous machine operation, an exclusive live vacuum deck that provides a maximum material hold-down capability and an integrated helical rack and pinion drive system. Set to be one of the impressive stalls at the expo, Massivit 3D showcased one of the most impressive stands, which included Marvel comic character Hulk and Surfer Girl, created on the flagship Massivit 1800 machine. Massivit also used the expo as the platform to introduce the 1500 Exploration 3D printer, which was also in action at their stall. EFI demonstrated its award-winning Nozomi C18000 for corrugated printing. Nozomi C18000 is known for fast job turns and rapid business growth in a single pass. With Nozomi C18000 printing firms supercharge their corrugated, packaging, and merchandise display printing capabilities with single-pass LED digital inkjet technology from EFI.

Nazdar at its stall revealed ink innovations, exhibiting whole gamut of inks for inkjet, screen, and flexo technologies, as well as samples of its special effects portfolio.

The company also promoted its range of market-leading wide-format ‘plug and play’ alternatives to OEM inks, which allow end users to reduce costs without compromising on quality. The Nazdar range offers exceptional colour and chemistry OKI’s stand at the expo was Alive with Colour as the company showcased its range of revenue-generating innovations for graphic arts professionals, producing a whole variety of applications from labels and price tags to interior and exterior banners and highly durable billboards.

Drytac at its stall showcased new look and unrivalled choice of products, which comprised the ColorCapture range of wallcovering media designed to allow customers to pick and mix the perfect media solution for their application, plus additions to the SpotOn and Polar media portfolios.

Big new launches

Providing PSPs the ability to diversify into new markets to increase customer drive was something MUTOH strived for at the expo, with the introduction of its latest PerformanceJet and ValueJet, which offer short-run printing on most substrates. Newly launched ValueJet 1638UR is an addition to Mutoh’s existing ValueJet 1638UH hybrid UV LED printer, which uses MUTOH’s new US11 UV LED CMYK, White and Clear 0 percent VOC inks, available in 220ml cassettes and 800ml bags (500ml for white) which enable printing on the widest range of roll substrates.

Avery Dennison during the expo unveiled seven new car-wrapping colours adding to its range of Supreme Wrapping Film and Conform Chrome, designed for installers seeking an ‘edge’ with car wraps. Four new Gloss Metallic colours for Supreme Wrapping Film are available to make wrap designs shine with a fine gold dust that says ‘luxury’: ‘Radioactive’, ‘Spark’, ‘Eclipse’, and ‘Magnetic Burst’.

AGFA Graphics at the expo announced EXTREME Campaign through which print service providers can achieve with AGFA Graphics’ technology: Extreme Productivity, Extreme Quality. At the same time, AGFA Graphics at the expo launched its latest UV LED inkjet hybrid workhorse: the Jeti Tauro H3300 LED.

New from EFI at the expo was a greener pigment ink for textile. The new EFI Reggiani pigment ink technology gives users a faster, environmentally friendly production process with inline polymerisation that requires less water, less energy and less processing time, with no washing or steaming needed.

FUJIFILM also launched Uvijet LM ink, a new low migration ink range specifically designed for printing corrugated retail displays and secondary food packaging. FUJIFILM experts at the company’s stall were on the spot interaction with visitors through the endless creative potential of the Onset X to create high-quality corrugated displays.

On the other side of the show floor, HP also made debut of its Latex R2000 rigid printer with HP Latex white ink.

ONYX Graphics used FESPA 2018 as launch pad to introduce ONYX 18 software, the newest version of its award-winning wide and grand-format software. ONYX 18 features new colour technologies for colour accuracy, consistency and conformance to standards such as G7 and Fogra that PSPs can prove to their customers; and is the first solution compatible with iccMAX, the new standard recommended by the ICC for all wide and grand-format print applications including textile and soft signage.

During the expo Kornit Digital introduced its Storm HD6, allowing small to mid-size businesses to drastically reduce their cost per print, enjoy high-definition image quality and improved hand feel, with an enhanced colour management experience.

FESPA 2018 Awards The winners of FESPA 2018 Awards were announced at gala dinner that took place at the Classic Remise in Berlin on the sidelines of the expo. Mumbai-based Protolab Electrotechnologies bagged the accolade of Functional Printing. The winners with the respective application categories were: Point of Purchase (POP) Products — Paper and Board Ocyan, Portugal; Point of Purchase (POP) Products — Plastic MIDI PRINT LLC, Russia; Posters Digital — Print Center, Qatar; Serigraphies and Fine Art—Harwood King Printmakers, UK; Decals Printed Labels, Fleet Marking and Window Decals— Signbox Limited, UK; Special Effect Printing—Kendu In-Store Visual Solutions, Spain, among others. Also announced at the function were the winners of the three categories: The 2018 Young Star Award, which is marked across all categories and is open to those aged 15-25, went to Steph Bourazanis from the UK for her entry of a digitally printed photograph using both abstract and macro photography, titled The Unknown.

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