Europe’s largest exhibition for screen and digital wide format print, textile printing and signage, Fespa Global Print Expo 2018, has opened at Messe Berlin in Germany. Organisers expect 20,000 visitors during the four-day event.
“We’re delighted to welcome our global print and sign-making community to Berlin this week,” says FESPA exhibitions director, Roz Guarnori. “Ever since we announced our return to Berlin for 2018, we’ve had a great reaction from exhibitors, resulting in a record event for both FESPA and European Sign Expo.”
Thousands of print service providers and sign-makers are expected to visit more than 700 exhibitor stands over the four days. Visitors can expect to see the latest innovations in equipment, software, inks and media for screen and digital wide format print, textile printing and signage.
Ricoh has rolled out its new Pro C9200 Series of digital sheet fed colour presses, EFI has unveiled its next-generation hybrid flatbed/roll platform technology – the EFI VUTEk h series printers, Mutoh Europe will launch the latest addition to its growing range of UV LED wide format print solutions, the ValueJet 1638UR, and OKI Europe will showcase its new Pro9000 Series Envelope Print System, aimed at short-run envelope printing.
Visitors can also access the co-located European Sign Expo for non-printed signage, which this year delivers the biggest event in its six-year history. The event is home to 117 exhibitors, highlighting the latest solutions and tools for channel lettering, neon, LED, dimensional signage, illuminated displays, engraving and etching.
Alongside the exhibition, visitors to FESPA and European Sign Expo 2018 can discover educational content, live demonstrations and interactive features.
On arrival at Messe Berlin, visitors pass through Printeriors, a collection of printed interior décor applications. Themed as an airport lounge, Printeriors highlights how print can be used to transform interiors with décor applications such as flooring, wall coverings and soft furnishings. 20 companies contributed applications to Printeriors including: Mimaki, OKI, CMYUK, Massivit, Premier Textiles and Veika.
Making its debut at FESPA 2018 is Print Make Wear, an interactive live production environment replicating a fast fashion factory. The new visitor feature illustrates each step in the screen and digital textile print production process, from initial design to the finished product. Within Print Make Wear visitors will find equipment and substrates from 15 exhibitors, while technology experts are on hand to explain each step in the process.
Another new visitor feature to launch at FESPA 2018 is the Digital Corrugated Experience (hall 5.2 – upper level), which demonstrates the commercial and production benefits of digital print for corrugated packaging and retail display applications. Targeted at both PSPs and converters, the feature hosts 17 exhibitors to illustrate the new revenue opportunities that can come from adding digital printing for packaging to their existing production technologies.
Nessan Cleary will be covering Fespa for Print21. If you have any requests or inquiries about the show, please let us know.