Successful Pack Print International 2013 witnesses 30 percent more visitor turnout

The standalone staging of Pack Print International 2013, 4th International Packaging and Printing Exhibition for Asia, was successfully held in Bangkok with a record breaking 30 percent growth in visitors attendance and the largest number of visiting delegations since its inaugural staging in the year 2007.

Jointly organized by Messe Dusseldorf Asia, The Thai Packaging Association and The Thai Printing Association, Pack Print International 2013 (August 28-31, 2013) at Bangkok International Trade & Exhibition Centre (BITEC) – Bangkok, featured an extensive display of cutting-edge live machinery and product demonstrations from more than 200 exhibitors from 20 countries. When last held in 2011, the trade show was concurrent with the plastics trade show TIPREX.

Visitors profile…

According to preliminary statistics, this year’s staging attracted 17,000 visitors from more than 50 nations. The majority of the overseas visitors were from China, India, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Northern and Southern Thailand and Vietnam. Delegates from the ASEAN Packaging Federation consisting of business leaders from Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Philippines also attended the trade fair.

All visiting delegations, including those from HAFECEN, Vietnam, the Ho Chi Minh Printing Association, the Myanmar Printer and Publishers Association and the Vietnam Printing Association, expressed positive feedback on the wide array of technologies and machinery displayed on the show floor. Kongfha Panpikun from Santipab

Pack-Print (part of the Northern Printing Business Club delegation), remarked, “Compared to the last show in 2011, I was able to see more machinery and technologies at this year’s exhibition. I am impressed with the range of exhibits on display.” Kamal Chopra, secretary general, North India Printers’ Association, said, “Thumbs up for Pack Print International, this is a superb exhibition!”

Products galore…

As the preferred exhibition for leading and emerging companies to showcase their newest technologies, the show featured numerous innovative products displayed by companies such as James Burn International, Polyplex (Thailand) Public Company Limited, Riso, SKP and Worakulchai. Ricoh (Thailand) Limited presented three machinery models for the first time in Southeast Asia.

Fuji Xerox’s official Asia Pacific launch of the iGen4 Press Diamond received many positive reviews. Pichai Thanyawacharakul, production system business director at Fuji Xerox (Thailand) Co Ltd, stated, “Our participation presents a good opportunity for businesses to adopt new printing technologies in order to support their business and enhance their competitiveness in the printing industry both on local and international levels.” Frank Bahmer, sales director of MBO Germany, added, “This is our first time participating at the show to launch our new cooperation with KBA for the MBO folding system in Asia. We are here to meet with decision makers who are not afraid to make new investments and have been happy with the visitors that we have met.”

CGS Thailand’s display of packaged products made from Sweden’s eco-friendly packaging material Re-board was a huge success in advocating sustainable printing and packaging. “We are pleased to promote the 3R concept to encourage visitors to make the world green through the creative usage of Re-board materials here,” noted Noppadol, managing director of CGS Thailand Co Ltd. While, BJC, Thailand was offering Quote & Print software, which can reduce operational costs and save 30 percent of admin time.

The biggest distributor stand belonged to Sansin Printing & Packaging, offering all kinds of pre-press, printing, equipments, materials and packaging equipments.

The group participation from Taiwan consisted of 17 exhibitors like Takano Machinery Company, Mega Source Technology Co Ltd, long New Industrial Co Ltd, etc.

The response…

Commenting on the show’s overall success, Pornchai Rattanachaikanont, president of The Thai Printing Association, remarked, “We are honoured that top companies in the two industries have chosen to launch their new products at Pack Print International, which emphasizes the show’s significance as a prominent exhibition that presents the best current technologies reflecting the real trends and capable of fulfilling market demands.”

Exhibitors were very pleased with their business results. SANSIN Holdings International Group Co Ltd attracted buyers with their live machineries on the show floor. The company’s sales & marketing director, Patrick Ng, commented, “We have displayed over 25 of the latest machineries in print finishing, the largest range of live machineries on exhibit and are happy that visitor inquiries came not only from within Thailand but also from across the region. We sold 20 machines during the four days of the show and will return to exhibit in 2015.” Among the companies reporting multiple sales was Hewlett-Packard Asia Pacific, which was present at the show after a gap of two shows. “We sold much more than we expected and met many new prospects. We have achieved our objectives in lead generation and increasing brand awareness for Hewlett-Packard Asia Pacific,” commented Roy Eitan, director & general manager of HP Indigo and Inkjet Press Solutions, Printing and Personal Systems, Asia Pacific and Japan. First time exhibitor John Anderson, managing director of Nilpeter Asia Pacific, added, “We are very impressed with the efficient and organized management of Pack Print International.”

Reacting to the positive comments from visitors and exhibitors alike, Gernot Ringling, managing director of Messe Dusseldorf Asia, stated, “We are delighted to have fulfilled our objective in delivering “better business beyond borders” – a platform that empowers the world’s best market leaders to generate optimum sales leads and present new products for the first time. This standalone edition of Pack Print International has also met the visitors’ expectations with a one-stop educational experience to network with the best in the industry, draw critical industry insights while sourcing for new innovations that are unique to the show.”

Chaivudhi Pungthong, president of The Thai Packaging Association, added: “The numerous machines sold on the show floor reflect the show’s success as an excellent procurement platform that draws serious buyers.” Robust sales activities were confirmed by digital and offset print leaders such as Canon, Creation Machinery, Ferrostaal, FujiFilm, Nationwide Co Ltd, Sanki Machinery, Koenig & Bauer AG and Ricoh, stating that the trade fair exceeded their expectations with concrete business deals closed during the show.

The exhibitors have shown strong commitment to return in 2015. “There is added confidence that the trends at the show are reflective of market developments within the print and packaging industries. We are pleased to be a part of Pack Print International and will continue our participation in the 2015 edition,” remarked Rene Ludvigsen, chief executive officer of Heidelberg – Asia Pacific Region.

The next show…

The next staging of Pack Print International will be from August 26-29, 2015 in Bangkok.

India’s presence at the show

At Pack Print International 2013, Welbound Worldwide presented their single clamp PUR perfect-binding systems. The model on display ‘PURe Bind350’ is ideal for digital printers, copy shops, photo albums and commercial printers. The product had its South East Asia launch during the event. Having succeeded in the difficult markets like India, Middle East, Asia and Africa, they hope to address the South East Asian market with the unique selling propositions. P Sajith, director, marketing and sales at Welbound Worldwide said that his mission to participate in the show was to find new distributors for unrepresented area within Asian regions.

KG Suresh, joint managing director, Autoprint Machinery Mfrs (P) Ltd was personally present at the show. They displayed two machines at the stands of their local distributers. One machine on display was REPETTO 65 – V2, an automatic sheet-fed flat bed die-punching and creasing machine designed to handle even the most intricate and detailed designs. And another was FINE COAT 65, an offline UV coating machine that helps add value to print jobs and tap the growing potential giving perfect solutions to environmental effects of traditional method of lamination and durability in question.

Line-O-Matic Graphic Industries displayed exercise book making machine at their local distributor (Creation Machinery Corporation Limited) CMC’s stand. The machine drew a lot of attention at Printpack India this year. Line-O-Matic’s ‘Nova B 104 E’ is one of the most ideal machines for exercise notebook making, with high productivity and excellent performance ratio consisting of latest technologies having greater speed, centralized system and faster change adjustments. Collectively, the machines consist of reel unwinding stand, ruling or flexo printing tower, cross cutting unit, sheet overlapping unit, sheet counting and collating unit, one inserter for pre-printed index sheet and one inserter for pre-printed title covers, wire stitching unit, folding unit, square back pressing unit, front cutting unit, book separating cutting unit, book delivery table, waste removal system, centralized control panel (PLC), etc.

As one of the supporting-organizations at the show, North India Printers’ Association (NIPA), a group of printers’ associations from the northern states of India with their objective to promote, protect and develop printing industry, took a delegation of 25 printers of the region to the show and highlighted their achievements.