The slightly misquoted line in the 1989 film “Field of Dreams” spoken by Kevin Costner, “If you build it, they will come,” could be altered further to “If you build it, will they come?” regarding last month’s PRINTING United Expo in the Las Vegas Convention Center. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, both the 2020 and 2021 expos in Atlanta and Orlando had to be cancelled. So, despite a blockbuster inaugural PRINTING United Expo 2019 in Dallas, uncertainty remained as to how well this year’s show would be attended.
But, as the three-day expo kicked off Oct.19 with a virtual sea of showgoers, it quickly became apparent that the registrants representing 121 countries came to see what was built — to the tune of approximately 30,000 total registrants.
In response to the increased industry demand for face-to-face exhibits, 701 companies filled two halls that occupied one million square feet. They displayed a variety of equipment that was geared towards the digital, apparel, digital textile and packaging markets. They knew that the No. A trade show’s number 1 draw is the ability to compare and test equipment from different vendors. Print services providers in almost every market have become more conscious of the need to automate and be more efficient due to the ever-increasing labor costs and worker shortage.
Attendees surely didn’t go home disappointed. PRINTING United Expo freight weighed more than five million pounds. at this year’s show. “One of the tremendous reasons this year’s event was so successful is because of all of the equipment running multiple substrates and soft goods on the show floor,” Mark Subers, president of PRINTING United Expo, proclaimed. “This is what attendees wanted to see and experience, and the exhibitors delivered.”
The 2022 PRINTING United event reminded me of the annual PRINT/Graph Expo shows during the ’80s and ’90s in Chicago — before they declined. Do you remember how it felt to walk into McCormick Place’s show floor entrance, just to see the huge Heidelberg booth?
HP Inc. executives cut the ribbon on the HP PageWide Advantage2200 inkjet web presses. From the left Annette Friskopp (GM PageWide Industrial) and Tuan Tran (President of HP Inc. Imaging, Printing & Solutions; and Haim Levit, SVP and GM, HP Industrial Print.
As digital printing has moved to the forefront, HP Inc. similarly dominated this year’s exhibition with its own 21,000-sq.-ft. exhibit area filled with the brand-new HP PageWide Advantage 2200 inkjet web press, coupled with HP Indigo 100K, 15K, and 6K LEP-technology digital presses, as well as a range of HP wide-format printers.
SCREEN, Kyocera and RISO also displayed production inkjet printing presses, while toner-based digital devices were on display at the Canon and Kodak exhibitions.
Heidelberg created nine jobs using its Smart Print Shop end-to-end, with 45 plate changes, during the show. The Speedmaster CX 104 press was equipped with ISTUV curing, Push to-Stop technology and the new Heidelberg User experience.
Also, the Lithographic printing sector was well represented. Large crowds were drawn to RMGT and Heidelberg by the demonstrations of their respective Heidelberg Speedmaster CX 104UV and RMGT 970LED-UV sheetfed offset presses.
The suppliers of finishing, embellishment and mailing equipment were also present, showcasing the latest products. And digital wide-format textile/apparel and finishing equipment were all over the place, given the links between the PRINTING United Expo, the SGIA shows, and its roots, the PRINTING United Expo.
But perhaps most striking about this year’s show was its level of positive energy. The show was full of positive energy, with attendees and exhibitors remaining engaged. This resulted in many business connections, purchases, and peer-to–peer networking conversations. It was evident that the printing community was feeling recharged, and was happy to be back in person, creating an international reunion.
The expo’s one-roof concept was also confirmed by the excitement. It was designed to unify all parts of the printing community. Just seeing the sheer breadth of printing and finishing applications catering to all print market segments — all within one trade show venue — generated a sense of empowerment and optimism for what the future holds. Tarnished by these past few difficult years, our industry’s good mojo is back.