PrintEx15 is two months away tomorrow with dozens of manufacturers getting ready to show off their latest equipment, software, or services to an expected 10,000 printers.
Releasing the exhibitor list today, PrintEx says the 14,000sqm floor is 90 per cent booked out and the floorplan is set, but extra participants can be accommodated if they book soon.
The major Aussie trade show, held at the Sydney Olympic Park on May 13-15, has secured 82 exhibitors this year, headlined by a monster Currie stand that is the biggest in PrintEx history.
The stand, twice the size of the next biggest, will display prepress workflow, digital printing including new HP Indigos, embellishment, and automated finishing in what the company says is an ‘exciting, fully integrated environment’.
[Related: More PrintEx15 news]
Major digital press manufacturers including Canon, Fuji Xerox, Konica Minolta, and Ricoh, will be there, likely displaying the rush of new cutsheet digital printers released over the past year, as competition in the digital production market heats up.
These brands have easily the biggest stands after Currie, along with paper merchant Spicers which has been selling EFI Vutek wide format printers and also recently added Mimaki printers and Elitron cutters to its stable. Rival merchant BJ Ball is also there displaying its Icon digital paper range on a smaller stand.
Offset manufacturers KBA, manroland, and Komori (via Ferrostaal) will have a presence, but as with previous years will not be showcasing a press on the exhibition floor.
Heidelberg is conspicuously absent, and Cyber is not there, citing the set-up time allowed as not enough to get a press up and running.
Wide format suppliers including EFI, Roland DG, Epson, DES, Screen, Celmac, and Starleaton are all there showing off the similarly crowded market with plenty of machines launched in the past year.
Co-location with Visual Impact brings a host of other wide format companies to the party and some suppliers will have stalls in both areas, which will be seamlessly integrated into the PrintEx floor.
Pre-press companies Agfa and Kodak are there, with Agfa also displaying its Anapurna M2500i UV-curable inkjet printer and new Acorta automatic cutting and finishing plotter, plus its workflow software.
The small size of Kodak’s stall means it is unlikely to be showcasing its digital printer range.
Ferag will also be there with its finishing machines and new Xingraphics plates it says will save on consumables costs.
Software companies are out in force, with Optimus, Objectif Lune, Workflowz, printIQ, Pent Net, and Tharstern all demonstrating new workflow, MIS, and web-to-print systems.
Finally, PrintEx will also run a series of industry forums designed to address the future challenges of the print industry.
Three concurrent streams will run during the expo, with a range of diverse speakers, who will address topics including managing change, print and the environment, and the how, why and what of innovation.
They will also include more specific topics, such as an update on the NBN, challenges in flexo and label printing, and opportunities in areas such as 3D print, polymers and printed circuits.
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