Page 58 - Print21 Nov-Dec 2019

Labelexpo
Single platform
So we saw converters for example specifically for pharmaceutical, for wide web, for in-mould and for others.
Sustainability is a key area, which has now reached the top of the public agenda. At Labelexpo the issue of plastic was given a mixed reception. Pouch printing was one of the big areas of opportunity, but of course pouches are necessarily plastic, in order to contain the liquid. On the other hand carton printing through label printing platforms and special converting units is fibre-based,
and with the current anti-plastic sentiment opportunities are growing in carton production, with Labelexpo showing that for label printers cartons are now a possibility.
The marriage between digital
and flexo was also clearly evident at the show, with multiple flexo press developers having new systems
that had a digital engine inserted
in the middle of the press, or who had rebadged digital presses with their own logo on the panel, and maybe their own unwind and rewind systems. Conventional presses however have also been developing to meet the evolving needs of the market, make ready times for instance have come down considerably, with flexo press manufacturers now claiming that they are most cost effective even when run lengths are less than 1000 metres. Of course they cannot add variable data. European label and carton printers hold an advantage over their Aussie and Kiwi cousins, when it comes to variable data, if they have a job for a European client it will be produced in at least seven language versions.
Labelexpo Brussels showed that the label sector is in vibrant mode, with solutions developers working hard to deliver new opportunities to label printers. 21
multiple applications
Print21 editor Wayne Robinson was in Brussels for Labelexpo, and reports on the key themes of the big show.
are likely to see. However it was inside the halls that was of most interest to the tens of thousands of label printers that came from around the world to Labelexpo.
One of the key themes was single platform, multiple applications, with a number of solutions vendors offering platforms that print and convert
not only labels but products such as carton boxes and pouches. This is because the digital printing engines can produce inkjet heads and ink that can stick to multiple surfaces, thanks to the UV technology where the ink does not dry but polymerises. This
is combined with media transport systems in those digital printing presses that can handle board and plastic in addition to paper and vinyl, so enabling the single-platform, multiple-application solution.
The end result is one print
system that can produce multiple applications. For print service providers this can be seriously beneficial, as it means their production equipment can produce different products, so enabling them to enter or engage with different markets with no great additional investment cost.
The necessary converting system needs to be added of course. They also had their moment in the sun at the show, where the theme was almost the opposite of the print engines, with the converting developers launching a raft of application- specific converting systems.
This year’s Labelexpo was the biggest ever, with some 600 exhibitors covering some eight halls in the Brussels Expo Parc.
This compares with just 40 that were at the first Labelexpo 40 years ago, and highlights the surging growth
of the sector. That growth though is not all about labels, in fact Labelexpo is becoming a bit of a misnomer, as packaging applications were a key theme of the show.
The four days of the exhibition highlighted the vitality of the sector, with the aisles and booths crowded from start to finish. Trade shows have been under the pump in recent years; we have seen the demise of many national shows, and most famously Ipex which at one time
was one of the four big global shows. What has happened though has been the emergence of sector specific
and even vendor specific shows. So the Hunkeler Innovation Days for webfed inkjet, Fespa for wide format printing, and Labelexpo of course for the label, and as was seen in Belgium in September, packaging sectors.
For art lovers and architecture purists the Brussels Expo Parc itself is a marvel, certainly one of the most stunning art deco building sets you
Opportunities for label printers to move into news areas: Labelexpo
58 Print21 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019