The inaugural Fespa Conference recently took place in Sydney, with Fespa Australia president Nigel Davies focusing on the theme of the conference, People, Planet and Profit, in his opening address.
Davies said the theme of the conference shows the triple bottom-line of successful companies of the future.
“People, Planet and Profit is a deeply transformational framework looking at the role of organisations and society,” he said.
“It is clear that successful companies of the future will embrace these triple-line thinking in their core values. Conversations around the circular economy will move us further into our journeys.”
Focusing on the ‘planet’ part of the theme, he said research shows that companies that adopt sustainability practices tend to demonstrate better operational performance, which ultimately translates into cash flow and dividends.
“But there are plenty of opportunities for companies to make real strides in embedding sustainability into their day-to-day operations and long-term strategies – and reap benefits from this approach,” he said.
In addition, he spoke about the importance of leadership in retaining talent.
“We also focus on people – we often hear that they’re our greatest asset. But people can also be the greatest liability as they have been responsible for the greatest disasters of our time. Your greatest asset is how you empower people and move them towards a meaningful purpose,” he said.
“Labour is scarce so successful companies are those that are effective in finding, developing and retaining talent. The Fespa Future Leaders Course has been a meeting of minds and talent, and you’ll hear more from these leaders.”
Davies also mentioned the need for PSPs to focus on automation going into the future, adding that as clients want faster and faster turnaround times and a lack of labour being a challenge, automation will alleviate these issues.
“Profit is not about financial profit, but how companies add value to their societies through employment, innovation and taxes,” he said.
FESPA CEO Neil Felton also addressed the attendees via video, saying FESPA’s focus is in reinvesting the profits into the industry.
“In the last seven years, we’ve reinvested $5 million into the industry and our key purpose is to create the leading global imaging community to build the demand for print. We’ve got FESPA Munich coming up at the end of May 2023 and we’ve got a great contingent of people attending from A/NZ,” Felton said.
“Even at our recent event in Berlin, there was significant number from A/NZ, so it goes to show that the community is forward thinking in terms of technology and managing challenges. FESPA Munich is the place to see the newest of technologies and where conversations about the newest ways of doing business is going to happen.
“If you’re a member of Fespa, you also get access to Club Fespa, where you get access to the best printers in the world – there are about 1,200 of them in this club. They are the bestest and brightest brains in the industry.”
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