Latest reports from the big five PrintEx exhibitors – Currie, Canon, Fuji Xerox, Konica Minolta and Ricoh – say multiple deals were being done on the show floor, and not only those prebooked. Smaller exhibitors too were reporting sales off the stands. This is in stark contrast to the previous show four years ago, which saw very limited buying action. Speaking with Australian Printer, Phillip Rennell, Currie Group sales and marketing director, says the group had a ‘strong showing’ and he was pleased to see the number of visitors occupying the Currie stand.
He says the group secured several new sales of its products including two hp Indigo 10000 digital presses, a hp inkjet T230 press, a hp Indigo 7800, hp Indigo WS6800 digital label press, two Scodix Ultra digital presses, three Cron CTP systems, and several Horizon with AB Graphics finishing lines. “And we have many leads which will translate into more sales in the coming weeks. I am in the process of following those up,” Rennell says. Fuji Xerox says it confirmed more than $2m in orders across its range of products over the three day event at PrintEx. Sales include orders for the new Color press 1000i, the Versant 2100 and Versant 80 as well as wide format, monochrome and software solutions. Simon Lane, executive general manager for marketing at Fuji Xerox Australia says there has been a general sense of optimism and encouraging response from its stand visitors. Lane says, “We are delighted with the feedback and engagement with our customers – the results speak for themselves. “The industry is excited by this new era in printing and agrees with us that effective print is a combination of intelligent content, creative design, targeted marketing, brilliant output and effective distribution. We were able to successfully prove to customers that we can help their businesses achieve that winning combination with our solutions.” Ricoh says its stand was also busy with a sale figure in excess of $2m, and surpassed its leads targets. The company confirmed 14 orders, which includes the Pro C7110, Pro C8120, and its first Australian sale of the C9110, to Inhouse Print & Design. Raj Chandiok, Ricoh national sales manager – production print solutions, told Australian Printer that while the number of visitors to the exhibition was lower compared to previous years those that came were engaged with the products. Chandiok says, “Normally there would be a lot more people who are not necessarily decision makers come through the doors. But this year while the numbers have been less than previous years those who visited the stand were seriously interested in making a purchase.
“We had more than 260 visitors attend our stand which means we will have quite a few leads. And this is what we want to see as it ensures productivity and product sales.” Konica Minolta national sales manager, George Fryer, sounded a note of caution, saying a lot of people are claiming that they have had ‘huge sales but they are just confirmation of sales that they have worked on for weeks and months’. Fryer says, “What we have sold, which includes four bizhub C1070 and two bizhub C1085, are real sales that we secured at PrintEx. Others have been boasting about their sales which are simply confirmations of previous sales designed to boost their figures.” He concurs with Chandiok, about the quality of visitors to its stand saying several print business owners attended its stand committing to new machines. “Although the stand was busy, it felt like the numbers were down compared to the previous show. We did much better at the last PacPrint, where we sold 12 or so machines, but having said that we did extremely well with several leads that we will be following in the next couple of weeks.” He says the Konica Minolta stand being at the front entrance of PrintEx was ‘a tremendous help’ and he will do his best to ensure their stand is at the front next time as well.
Dale Hawkins Canon business group manager
Canon wanted to present its stand visitors with tangible ideas, printing its entire stand including banners, posters, decals, coasters, tables and all its marketing collateral with Canon equipment. Speaking with Australian Printer, Canon business group manager, Dale Hawkins did not want to divulge the number of the sales the company made but he says that it was ‘one of the best exhibitions’ Canon has ever had. Hawkins says, “It was one of the best shows in the printing industries that we have been involved in, even pre-show there was a high level of activity in press and digital. But once the doors opened our stand was consistently busy with several sales and leads.” More than 6000 visitors from Australian and international print businesses attended PrintEx, which in 2011 saw more than 7000 visitors come through its doors. Prior to the show many of the exhibitors were concerned that the ‘away from the city’ location at Sydney Olympic Park would affect the numbers and they would not reach their set leads and sales targets, however they were proved happily wrong.
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