Local software firms such as Serendipity Software, PrintCost, Lithotechnics and PrintSoft are dotted among the European and Asian manufacturing giants at the NEC.
Peter Skarpetis, chief executive of Sydney-based developer Serendipity Software, told ProPrint that the company’s main aim at Ipex was to grow its global dealer network.
“The focus for us is to find new distributors. That’s always our focus at trade shows,” said Skarpetis.
“Yesterday was really good. We found quite a few dealers from Europe, as well as Africa, including Egypt, Libya and Tanzania,” he added.
Skarpetis said Serendipity’s main product focus at the show is its soft-proofing tool Veripress, which is already in use by PMP in Melbourne for Marie Claire magazine.
New Zealand-based MIS firm PrintCost said new and existing customers were its main focus at Ipex.
Managing director John Durkin told ProPrint that the first day had been a bit slow, but said things had really started to pick up, with local and international leads.
“We had one of our original customers on the stand yesterday – he has been with us since we launched in the UK 12 years ago,” said Durkin.
Lithotechnics, which is launching a new version of its Metrix imposition software at the show, told ProPrint that it had seen a steady stream of customers through its stand.
Director Rohan Holt said the firm’s focus was on new and existing customers, adding that new functionality of Metrix 2010 was a big pull.
The new version includes ‘auto-sheet size’, which can analyse a user’s entire press fleet and automatically select the machine that will provide the best imposition.
“There are people who are definitely looking at it and it has opened their eyes,” said Davo Laninga, who looks after Lithotechnics in the US.
He added that visitors to the Ipex stand included printers that had looked at Metrix before but not invested, who were now looking at the auto-sheet size function and going from “might not” to “must have”.
Steven Kiernan is at Ipex.
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