PRINTING UNITED FOCUSES ON DIGITAL

ANZ print businesses largely gave the US trade show Printing United a miss, and none of the big five offset press manufacturers were in Las Vegas last week either, all content with being at drupa, which took place just three months ago. Inkjet was the key technology at the expo.

Printing United is the result of the merger between the US commercial show Print, which used to run in Chicago every four years, and SGIA, the annual sign and display printers show. It is now scheduled every year, and aims to position itself as the drupa of the Americas. The smattering of ANZ printers at the show were largely sign printers.

This time around Printing United had 817 exhibitors, seven more than last year, on 35,860sqm of floorspace, up a smidgeon on last time. One of the two halls was dedicated to print, packaging and labels, the other to sign and display.

However, offset press manufacturers Heidelberg, Koenig & Bauer, Komori and RMGT did not attend, while manroland had an information booth but no press. Inkjet and digital print abounded, with all major brands exhibiting.

Overall visitor numbers have not yet been released, but last time it attracted 28,000 and organisers would be hoping to top 30,000 this time around, which would be a win in the current trade show environment of declining numbers. The latest drupa which took place in May had 175,000 printers, a 90,000 drop in numbers from the previous iteration back in 2016, and less than half the peak of 420,000 who were at the new millennium show 2000.

This year’s Printing United suffered from unfortunate timing, running in exactly the same week as Labelexpo in Chicago, and the corrugated exhibition SuperCorr in Florida. However, the organisers say they have addressed the date clash for next year’s Printing United, which will run in Orlando next October.