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FESPA 2007: the bigger picture
FESPA 2007 will occupy 11 halls at Messe Berlin
As we forge ahead with the planning of FESPA 2007 and several other major FESPA projects, the notion of ‘looking to the future’ is rapidly becoming the theme of the year. Indeed, the buzzwords ‘short run’, ‘fast turnaround’, ‘reduced downtime’ and ‘maximising productivity’ have been around for while, with many printers claiming they now need to deliver twice as much work in half the time. There is no doubt the pressure is on for print service providers to remain competitive.
Market landscape: threats or opportunities?
We see several major factors impacting the printing industry such as the ability of nations like China and India to take advantage of cheap labour to undercut western prices. Some parts of the printing industry, for example book printers, have been aware of this issue for some time and have addressed it by adapting their businesses. Other sectors have yet to be touched by this, but it doesn’t mean they won’t be in the future.
Technological developments, such as the emergence of live media are also tipped to start having a real impact on printed POP/POS materials. Thought leaders at the POPAI organisation are keen to highlight the huge opportunities for this technology but believe that, rather than sounding a death-knell for printed POP, the predicted popularity of these products should prompt printers to stop thinking of themselves as printers, but more as market-orientated service providers.
In the same way that digital engines were perceived by some at first to present a threat but have actually presented new and lucrative opportunities to screen printers, technologies such as live media could provide print service providers with another way to diversify their business and capture new revenue streams.
Eco issues are also at the top of the agenda, and we are all encouraged in the name of corporate social responsibility to make changes to the way we operate for the benefit of the planet. This is also something that we need to turn into an opportunity, switching our practices and promoting our corporate social responsibility to our customers as a selling point. Vendors such as EFI are making ground-breaking developments with its BioVu ink, and RE-board is finding great success by recycling cardboard and reselling it as a corrugated substrate solution. These are great examples of external pressures on our industry forcing us to think like entrepreneurs.
With the various challenges that print service providers face, we at FESPA see it as our responsibility to help them fully engage with the industry they operate in, be it through exhibitions, or other knowledge-sharing and learning experiences. It is our mission to help printers feel empowered and well-equipped to make the right decisions to plot the future direction of their businesses.
Importance of the exhibition experience
It is no surprise that, for those running screen and digital printing businesses, the exhibition experience is pivotal in business planning and the decision-making process. After all, where else can you see such a broad collection of live demonstrations of the latest solutions? Important as this is, the ‘exhibition experience’ is not limited to merely walking the halls and surveying the latest machinery. For visitors, we see that the other elements of exhibitions (networking and knowledge-sharing forums, such as seminars and workshops) are key elements that help printers make the right choices about how to move their businesses forward.
FESPA 2007 will occupy 11 halls at Messe Berlin, and will be the biggest FESPA exhibition to date. The level of interest from exhibitors has been phenomenal: by November last year, seven months out from the show, the amount of exhibition floor space sold was already equivalent to the final total sold for FESPA 2005. We are on track to reach our target of 600 exhibitors covering 34,000m2.Equipment manufacturers use FESPA 2007 as the international arena to introduce new technologies and products to the marketplace. We have been encouraged by the number of first-time exhibitors taking space in Berlin, as well as long-time FESPA exhibitors opting for larger exhibition stands than ever before. Around 15 per cent of the exhibitors in Berlin will be new FESPA exhibitors, and this is partly attributable to the size and reputation of the show, plus the development of the industry itself. We are also welcoming more digital exhibitors, along with suppliers offering expertise in prepress and print workflow, such as software and RIPS.
Visitors can look forward to seeing the latest technological advances unveiled, as well as a packed agenda that will include a free educational seminar programme featuring some of the main authoritative figures in the screen and digital industries. We will also be hosting awards ceremonies that recognise and reward creativity, as well as the popular gala event.
FESPA 2007 will also offer new features to both visitor and exhibitors: we are introducing a new Exhibitor Meeting Club that will provide a place for exhibitors to conduct business with customers and VIPs away from the usual hustle and bustle of the stand environment. Visitors can meanwhile be assured that their time at the exhibition is most effectively used, thanks to a new ‘Ask Me’ service. This will take the form of a roving team of personnel who will act as information points, answering questions and providing useful advice on the show floor. At the same time, online terminals will be located throughout the exhibition halls, enabling visitors to input key words such as ‘ink’ or ‘textile’, before being directed to those exhibitors displaying the appropriate technology.
Based on our previous success and the compelling line-up of exhibitors and event highlights planned so far, FESPA 2007 will provide visitors with an enriched and valuable exhibition experience. Once again the show will span five days, so the good news is that there is plenty of time to pace yourself and plan your visit carefully, whilst ensuring you allow some downtime in one of Europe’s major cultural centres.
Apart from exhibitions?
We achieve our objectives to inform, educate, and help our members through a number of ongoing activities that include workshops, seminars, research activities, support for website development, symposiums and much more. Our seminar programme in particular continues to enjoy strong interest from our National Association members and provides a great forum for the education and discussion of key issues affecting the industry, both as a whole and within each respective country. In the last quarter of 2005 alone, we supported seminars in the UK and four other countries, all of which were either run by or included a well known industry authority, such as past FESPA President Michel Caza, as guest speaker.
The FESPA e-learning programme is perhaps the biggest project currently being undertaken and will aim to make FESPA’s screen printing educational course more accessible to a wider audience. For a low cost, those working in screen printing or those just wanting to learn best practice in screen printing, can take the course and attain certification, which we hope will become an internationally-recognised standard. The programme is well under way and the content has already been written in English, with other translations in progress. We are aiming for the widespread roll-out of the e-learning programme at FESPA 2007.
FESPA 2007 will also be used as the launch pad for one of the main projects we are working on at the moment, the FESPA Special Effects book. The project itself is a huge undertaking, and will feature 23 different ink effects that can be achieved with screen printing, contained in a quality presentation book.
We believe that the book will be instrumental in raising the profile of screen printing and the amazing special effects that can be achieved. It will undoubtedly inspire creative people to demand that screen printing methods are used in their marketing campaigns. The book will initially be distributed free to all FESPA Associations and sponsors and to the top designers, agencies and print buyers in each member country.
Along with the original FESPA Awards and the new FESPA Digital Printing Awards, the FESPA Special Effects book is a further vehicle to help us realise our aim to champion excellence, by helping and encouraging print service providers to promote and showcase their capabilities to their customers.
Successful printing business
Running a successful printing business is about a full awareness and understanding of customer needs. It’s about being equipped with knowledge and leveraging technology to be as efficient and productive as possible to maximise profits, as well as looking to the future to stay in tune with altering market landscapes. All FESPA’s efforts are geared towards helping printers do this. The fact that vendors are identifying FESPA 2007 as the main forum for interacting and engaging with their customers reinforces our message that as a print service provider, FESPA 2007 is one exhibition you cannot afford to miss.
