With stands in both the Digital Hall and the Textile Hall, the company is demonstrating its rich and varied range of solutions available to clients from across the sign and graphics, industrial print, and textile industries.
Indeed, talking to John de la Roche from Mimaki distributor Hybrid Services, it is exactly this breadth of technology and solutions that he says the company are aiming to convey at FESPA. He explains: “The main thing we want to get across to visitors at FESPA 2017, is that there is a solution on the Mimaki stand to suit almost any printing need.
“The slogan for this year’s FESPA is ‘Dare to Print Different’, and I believe this is an ideology Mimaki had really adopted with the extraordinary range of printing technologies on display. We can meet the demand of almost any visitor: whether it’s ordinary textile printing or high-end fashion, 3D modelling or self-adhesives for vehicles, it’s all covered by a Mimaki product at the show.”
It is true that the company has not held back in bringing technology to the event. In the Textile Hall, Mimaki is showing its latest range of textile printers, including the recently-announced dual-ink Tx300P-1800, as well as the high-speed direct-to-textile Tiger-1800B.
In the Digital Hall, Mimaki’s flagship solutions for the sign and display and industrial markets are on display, including four solvent printers and up to six UV printers. Another attraction that is drawing the crowds is the technology demonstration of Mimaki’s 3D printing solution, a UV-curable four-colour printer that can generate products featuring more than 10 million colour combinations. While at Drupa, the company had samples on its stand; here at FESPA, Mimaki is demonstrating a prototype of the printer itself.
Confirming that there is always a “huge crowd” around the 3D printer, de la Roche expresses his satisfaction with the general visitor reaction to Mimaki’s stand: “It is clear to me that at FESPA this year Mimaki is really at the forefront of demonstrating applications. Most of the conversations I have with visitors ends with them saying: ‘I didn’t realise you could do that!’ So the focus has really been on demonstrating the extensive variety of applications possible on the wide range of Mimaki printers.
“The great thing about this show is that people want to be here: no doubt about it. For us, these exhibitions are always important opportunities to meet our customers and our resellers, as well to see what our competitors are doing. And we manage to squeeze in the odd beer or two as well!”
Show success
De la Roche claims Mimaki can meet the demand of almost any visitor to its
stand: whether for ordinary textile printing, high-end fashion, or 3D modelling
Mimaki will not be the only attendee satisfied with the outcome of this year’s FESPA. Also guaranteed to be delighted are the winners of the FESPA 2017 Awards.
There were over 15 winners across all the categories, but the award for this year’s Best in Show went to Atelier für Siebdruck, from Switzerland. Judged to offer the most outstanding example of print across all out entries, Atelier für Siebdruck won the awardfor its entry titled Le Monde des effets in the Special Effects Category.
We are very proud to have won this award. It’s an exciting time for the industry with manufacturers striving to innovate and bring the very best solutions to market”
On the subject of awards, another firm to be returning from FESPA with silverware is Roland DG. The latest addition to Roland’s TrueVIS printer/cutter range, the TrueVIS SG Series, won ‘Best Print and Cut Solution’ at the European Digital Press awards. The success of the SG-540 and SG-300 integrated print and cut devices follows that of the TrueVIS VG Series, which won in the same category in 2016.
Speaking at the awards ceremony, which took place at FESPA, Gillian Montanaro, head of marketing EMEA for Roland DG, commented: “We are very proud to have won this award. It’s an exciting time for the industry with manufacturers striving to innovate and bring the very best solutions to market. This EDP recognition demonstrates that as a pioneer of digital wide-format technology, Roland DG continues to lead the way with an unmatched product portfolio offering an award-winning combination of reliability, precision engineering, quality, and return-on-investment.”
Wrap it up
De la Roche claims Mimaki can meet the demand of almost any visitor to its
stand: whether for ordinary textile printing, high-end fashion, or 3D modelling
Taking a last look at some of the new products on display at this year’s show, and there is much to occupy the wrapping enthusiasts. Avery Dennison, for example, is exhibiting five new product innovations for vehicles and architecture under the theme “transforming for you”.
Visitors to the Avery Dennison stand are able to view the new digital wrapping series, MPI 1105, together with a range of other solutions including 5600 LD Translucent Films, an outdoor High Opacity Film that covers existing graphics, Facade Film for building decoration, and 18 new Supreme Wrapping Film colours.
In a similar vein, Mactac is aiming to address customer needs at this year’s exhibition by showing a range of new products on their stand. These include a “ground-breaking” chrome wrap with a matt surface, ‘self healing’ films, which eliminate small scratches and maintain a fresh look over long periods of time, and the latest additions to the Mactac range of architectural and promotional products.
My ambition is to continue the good work of my predecessors, taking FESPA forward to the next level”
And as FESPA 2017 in Hamburg begins to wind down, there is just time to take a look at the future for the show in the upcoming years. During the annual FESPA Gala Night, the exhibition inaugurated its 17th new President, Christian Duyckaerts, who will be supported during his two-year term of presidential office by Vice-President Christophe Aussenac.
In his inaugural speech, Duyckaerts said: “My ambition is to continue the good work of my predecessors, taking FESPA forward to the next level. Our challenge is to prepare FESPA for 2020 and beyond, to exploit the area of digital transformation where our industry is facing many opportunities, not just with web-to-print but also with omni-channel solutions and many areas of customisation.
“We will help our global community to adapt to these new trends and evolutions with conferences and summits to share best practice, knowledge, information, and friendship, along with many other initiatives. FESPA will continue to build bridges between the printing industry and the end users of print and graphics, invest in the industry and focus on areas such as textile print, packaging, interior design, retail, and many more. We will continuously look for synergies in favour of our members and work for a bright future for print.”
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