Warming up to ‘Hotlanta’

Atlanta—or ‘Hotlanta’ as it has become warmly known to many—is home to this year’s SGIA Expo. The show will attract thousands of wide-format graphics imagers, commercial printers, lithographers, photographers, sign-makers, and garment decorators who will descend on Georgia’s World Congress Centre between November 4th and 6th.

This year’s event promises ‘hot technology, hot markets, and the hottest opportunities’. It is rhetoric that must seem a world away from the show’s humble beginnings, when it started as a small, process-focused show in 1948.
 
Since then, however, SGIA Expo has grown to become one of the largest print gatherings in the US. Evolving from its days as an analogue screen printing show it is now a diverse all-encompassing affair, with three exhibitor zones dedicated to sustainability, digital, and garment printing.

Southern draw

So what can visitors expect? “The SGIA Expo is the one place to see the full range of wide-format imaging options, including the largest production-focused flatbeds and roll-to-rolls. Imaged fabrics are a hot product for the wide-format imaging community,” says Michael Robertson, president and chief executive officer
(CEO) of Specialty Graphic Imaging Association (SGIA).



He continues: “If you are serious about wide-format you need to be at the SGIA Expo. The expanse of equipment on display is complemented by the ‘SGIA Zones’ which provide a valued learning experience for attendees.


“In addition, the SGIA Expo is ‘total solution’ focused for garment dec-orators. Both screen printing and direct-to-garment will be featured, and the garment decoration community will find a diverse array of equipment and consumables specific to their interests.”

With around 550 booths, a plethora of diverse exhibits and educational offerings all packed under one roof, the show’s variety is an obvious appeal. Andrew Oransky, vice president, sales and marketing, Roland DGA Corp, agrees: “SGIA remains the premier event for a variety of specialty printing technologies and customers. While there are shows that are more specialised in sign, commercial print, or other narrow segments of the print industry, SGIA is a unique opportunity to reach a lot of users that don’t fit those segments.
 
“It is an important event for producers of decorated and personalised products, apparel, ad specialties, and a variety other items. We are also starting to see more industrial and functional printing products and applications on display at this show.”

One manufacturer flying the industrial printing flag is EFI, where it will show for the first time its latest portfolio of industry-leading, industrial, super-wide format inkjet technologies on stand 3411.
 
Systems include advanced LED and VUTEk printers, which will be featured alongside two of the company’s latest inkjet offerings. These include the Reggiani ONE printer, which is ideal for fabric soft-signage applications.

As well as visiting exhibits, visitors interested in industrial printing can attend the show’s ‘Industrial Printing Symposium’, a first for 2015. The symposium is a day and a half event to provide insight into the expanding industrial printing sector and aims to address the issues and opportunities.

Leading figures will dig deep into the technologies used for industrial imaging, developments that are profoundly changing industrial print; as well as taking a look at the relevant vertical markets, application opportunities, and production strategies.

Dan Marx, SGIA’s vice president, market and technologies, says: “The industrial printing sector is one of the fastest-growing and opportunity-rich areas of specialty graphics and the new SGIA Industrial Printing Symposium will explore why. Through 15 information-rich presentations, attendees will gain an unprecedented perspective on the sector as it is today, and a view into where it’s going.”

Material world

But it is not only industrial printing in the limelight at 2015 SGIA Expo. The textile printing sector is also identified as one of the biggest opportunity areas for specialist printers and will be amply represented at the show.

Among the screen presses, there will be the iQ-Oval screen press from Hirsch. First launched in early 2014, the iQ-Oval can be purchased with a minimum of twelve stations to a maximum of sixty stations.

Its ‘Intelligent Drive System’, or iDS, has small drive motors on each pallet arm that allow for independent operation, as well as smooth motion in both print directions and the ability to do single, double, or triple indexing.

Each drive's motor stops immediately when an obstacle is sensed, improving operator safety. The printer is controlled by an M-Touch Pro tablet with full Wi-Fi capability for real-time technical support.

For A1 DTG printing, the MT-FPM1-TS printer will be on the MicroTech stand, number 4245. This system has a maximum print size of 60 x 125cm and can print white t-shirts in two minutes, forty seconds. The maximum resolution of the printer is 2880 × 1440 dpi.

To underpin the on stand techno-logical exhibits, garment printers are invited to the SGIA ‘garment zone’, which will support garment printers with a series of presentations over the three days.

Talks kick off with a ‘direct-to-garment crash course’ and covers every faculty of textile printing, from how to fine tune your screen printing prepress to making money with digital.

For the broader specialist printing spectrum there is plenty of new technology on show from some of the larger manufacturers, including Agfa’s Jeti Tauro, which was first seen at FESPA 2015.



The Jeti Tauro is a high-end hybrid UV inkjet press with thirty-two heads for six colours, and optional white or primer, designed for high productivity printing on both rigid and flexible material.



Also on its stand is the Jeti Mira, a most versatile six colour and white UV inkjet flatbed printer with optional varnish or primer. The Jeti Mira system features a moving-gantry architecture with split-vacuum table for productivity, impressive colours, and print quality.

Overseas appeal

With its commitment to industrial and textile printing, SGIA 2015 is an obvious place to get the lowdown on how to capitalise in new growth areas. But are there any other reasons why visitors would choose SGIA over, for instance, FESPA, which perhaps has a more international feel?

For some, the American-centric vibe is the attraction. This is especially true for companies that already have a foothold in the US marketplace. Nottingham based Natgraph will showcase its drying technology at 2015 SGIA Expo alongside Sakurai screen press in booth 116, where it will celebrate twenty years in business.

Exporting 85 percent of its goods overseas and with over 300 installations in North America, it is little wonder its sales director Douglas Gray sees the US as an important geographical market for any technology-focused business.

“The US is a terrific source of innovation and is a free and open market,” he says, adding: “Asian markets are considerably more challenging so the US is an easier place to develop export opportunities.”


For the likes of Natgraph, 2015 SGIA Expo is an obvious gateway to lucrative new customers and networks in a continent that is business-friendly and culturally similar. Gray thinks US innovation will also be a huge attraction for overseas visitors who want to see the latest systems from across the spectrum, especially in digital.

Statistics provided by the show’s organisers demonstrate in over-whelming favour that digital will dominate the show’s floor. Eighty one percent of exhibitors have digital products compared to 45 percent who are showcasing screen. However with diversity at the heart of SGIA Expo, there is still a huge screen presence.



Gray adds: “The biggest pull at SGIA will be digital technologies, but there will be a lot of interest in screen technology too. People are too quick to talk about the demise of screen. It’s still going strong.”

So, many will be attracted to SGIA’s innovative feel, but is the US really a trailblazer in every sense? Not according to Oransky of Roland DGA.



“Some technologies, like dye-sublimation, have actually taken off much faster in Europe than in the Americas,” he says, adding:  “That has given us a chance to learn from our colleagues overseas and get a head start in our market. We also see a lot more in the way of specialised and modified equipment when we attend shows like FESPA. Users in the Americas seem less prone to experimentation, pref-erring a standard solution out of the box.”

Power of association

Of course, there are always going to be benefits for European printers to fraternise with their US counterparts—whether they are competitors, customers, or industry figures. Trade shows are the perfect environment in which to mix and build bridges.

There is also no escaping the fact that, for many SGIA attendees, the show presents the chance to absorb the atmosphere and technological prowess of arguably one of the most innovative nations in the world. This means getting a head start in perhaps some of the most potentially profitably print areas of the future.

O Factoid: Ten years ago, SGIA Expo faced one of its biggest challenges in the show’s history. The 2005 event had to relocate from New Orleans to Phoenix following devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. O

With next year’s show set back in Vegas, 2015 SGIA Expo in Atlanta provides a chance for far-flung visitors from the East of the Atlantic to soak up some of that famed pioneering and innovative American spirit, while perhaps also saving on a few air miles.



Can Hotlanta’s Southern hospitality top the razzmatazz of last year’s ‘Sin City’ event and deliver another record breaking year? Oransky is not so sure: “We expect the turnout at SGIA 2015 to be slightly lower than last year, since Vegas is more of a ‘destination’ city than Atlanta. However, Vegas set a record for attendance, so even with a slight decrease, SGIA 2015 should still be a very good show.”

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