Having been darting from stand to stand over the last few days, we felt like we have witnessed the depth and breadth of the signage industry. The final day has been no exception, with another good day overall in terms of footfall, but particularly for resellers and suppliers across the halls.

Firstly, Josero had a trio of machines on its stand, with the new Ricoh Pro L4160 taking its first test drive in the Sign and Digital halls to much acclaim. The machine has been developed for extremely high quality wide-format printing on a range of substrates, shown today on a stunning high resolution Pentax image printed directly onto gloss vinyl. Perfect for applications from wallpaper printing to adhesive graphics, the vibrant six-colour latex inks dry instantly, and, coming in an attractively small price tag, has been a great hit with visitors.

Another UK first at the show for Josero came in the shape of the MSS Eco-solvent inks from Triangle, presented in an auto refill plug in system. As demonstrated on a Mimaki JV300-160, the plug in and play system was particularly appealing to Mimaki users, as was the recyclable box.

Sales manager, Steve Wright, was particularly happy with the reception of Josero’s own Bubble free adhesive vinyl applicator table, which he said garnered a lot of interest at the show. Visitors, he said, were astounded at the machine’s simplicity compared to the output, continuing, “These machines are the where the industry is headed.” He quoted a customer who had returned to buy a second applicator after his first produced three and a half thousand boards in three weeks.

Meanwhile over at Paperlinx, each part of the stand showcased the materials that they stock, including 3.7m light boxes, contour impact LED strip plynth lighting around the bottom edge of their stand and dtec floor graphics.

As well as high interest in the courses Paperlinx runs at its own digital workshop, it promoted some of their latest investments. With an estimated £250,000 made on day one of Sign and Digital UK, they were more than happy to show off their range of devices.

They presented the Mimaki CJV150 integrated inkjet printer and cutter is available in four different widths, giving more flexibility. A HP Latex digital printer was displayed for creating textiles and coverings, as well as POS, banners, and vinyl printing. PaperlinX offer a range of materials, including Foamalux which was used to create butterflies given to visitors to demonstrate how intricate a shape can be cut using their digital printer.

However, the stand out device—much to the excitement of this year’s visitors—was the Stratasys uPrint SE Plus 3D printer. The 3D printer had become something of a talking point at the exhibition, attracting a lot of interest in particular from educational institutions and sign-makers looking to develop their business.

Talking textiles

MTEX was another huge presence in the halls today, with its two sublimation printers, the MTEX 1800 and the MTEX Vision demonstrating the potential of textile and soft signage printing. The machines provide all-in-one print and fixation solutions, allowing sign-makers to produce everything from backlit banners and flags to soft-furnishings and clothing, in one pass.

The 1800 features an electro-pneumatic feeding system which adjusts for different fabric tensions, whereas the Vision, which is designed for woven and knitted fabrics, features an adhesive belt to allow printing on stretch materials. In an impressive demonstration of the printers’ abilities, MTEX erected a 4m stretched wall banner showing off the vibrant colours and grand-scale output.

Business support manager, Rick Kwiecien, happily reported a huge upturn in interest this year in comparison with previous years, saying that, “People are starting to realise textiles will be the next big thing.” He said that though soft signage has been around for a while, bespoke fabric production for home-furnishing and clothing is where the market is headed, and that 2016 will be ‘the year of textiles’.

Vertical panel saw manufacturer Sagetech has had an equally strong turn-out at its stand. Managing director Keith Bunker was positive to the nth degree about the show, saying the visitor attendance was very good and that Sagetech’s sales had already covered the cost of its stand.

A lot of this could be down to the launch of its newest Zapkul vertical panel saw range, which comes in two sizes, the ZK8 (2800 x 1900mm) and the ZK10 (3600 x 2300mm) and the ZM vertical panel saw, which comes in three sizes and is reportedly one of the strongest in the industry. Visitors have liked the fact that the ZK low-weight folding saw is fully portable (able to fit in the back of a van), and is an easy and affordable solution to length and cross cut 8’ x 4’ or 10’ x 5’ sheets.

We also stopped by GESS (Global Erecting Sign Services) to check out the different projects they have carried out over the years. As specialist installers of many applications from large format banners to retail displays, Martin Hicks from GESS explains how attending Sign and Digital UK allows them to keep contact flowing with their customers.

Memorable campaigns for them include the 25m by 30m World War Two tribute banner that hung on the cliffs of Dover, as well as the month-long project carried out for Aviva London, and one-to-one imagery displayed on Harrods. They have also installed signs on major shopping outlets such as Lakeside and Bluewater, as well as Wembley Stadium.

With the mood at an all time high and the exhibitioners on top form until the very end, our final day at Sign and Digital UK was one filled with excitement and innovative technology of the future, making us look forward to what is in store for us next year.