We dare printers to explore business opportunities; invest in new technology and services and respond to clients’ changing needs. Do you dare to print different? Then you need to register online for the flagship Africa Print Expo in Johannesburg, the largest digital and commercial printing expo in Africa. This article is taken from the Africa Print Journal.
Printing, and what it means to be a printer, have changed in the digital era. Several of the overarching trends identified by the FESPA Census reinforce this message. For example, the Census noted the continued shift away from high-volume commodity print towards customised, higher-margin products. It reported a much tighter focus by PSPs on the evolving needs and expectation of their customers. And it found that while manufacturing economics remain an important factor in allocating capital expenditure, strategic planning is equally important, with 45% of those investing doing so to move into new markets with new products and services.
The Africa Print expo is ideal for those exploring profitable add-ons or additional revenue streams. It will be a showcase for the entire digital print process and will feature from sheetfed A3 machines up to Grand format digital equipment and will include both suppliers and manufacturers of commercial and digital printers, finishing equipment, software, media and consumables.
Hall 3 of the expo is sold out and Hall 2 is almost booked out, with big brands and major industry players signing up. These include: platinum sponsor Konica Minolta South Africa, Canon, HP, swissQprint, Primera, Vivid Laminating Technologies, Fellowes Beswick, Aristo, Durst, Agfa Graphics, RISO Africa, Paul Moeller & Company, Fujifilm, OKI, Epson, Arctec, Ricoh, Optimus, Roland, Modico, Bernina, Denton Office Solutions, MIPS Technologies, Regma and Printing SA to name just a few.
The 2016 Africa Print Expo was a major success, with 5592 unique visitors from South Africa and international countries, 941 return visitors and 6533 total visits to the expo. Eighty two percent of visitors were owners or senior management and 79% are involved in decision making. The 2017 event is expected to attract quality visitors and will deliver informative educational content that visitors have come to expect.
Exhibitors were ecstatic about the amount and quality of visitors, as well as the equipment sold at the event, with many saying that the 2016 expo was the best show to date.
'This is the most amount of people I've ever seen at the expo. We interacted with people from around South Africa and from over the borders. The show was a great success,' said Phil Jones, Regma South Africa.
'This is the best show we've had in three years. The response from visitors has been amazing and we had serious buyers. We sold machines, consumables and software off the stand,' said Clinton Pillay, CMYK Industries.
'It is our first time here and as international company, I can already tell you that this is by far the best show we’ve ever exhibited at. We have had a lot of great leads and were very well received. We are also surprised by how busy it was on all three days. We think the expo team did a great job in organising this exhibition. We are glad to have been part of this epic show. We have also signed a deal with our new local distributors for our products,’ commented Chris Edwards, CWT.
Dare To Expand Print Boundaries
Printers looking to diversify into wide format printing, signage and graphics and vehicle wrapping will be spoilt for choice with many exhibitors catering to these markets and industry experts available to share extensive knowledge. Hall 1 will feature a dedicated Textile Print Expo, showcasing all disciplines of print from screen printing, transfer printing, sublimation, direct digital printing and more. Printers in Africa are increasingly seeing textile printing as a new revenue stream. The advancements in ink and machine technology and wider availability of reliable printers has made this area a very attractive business opportunity.
Africa Print will be co-located with FESPA Africa, Sign Africa and Africa LED, taking place from 13-15 September 2017 at the Gallagher Convention Centre in halls 1, 2 and 3.
Dare To Cross Borders
The Africa Print event organisers are excited to bring the event to Zambia for the first time. This is exciting new territory for those exhibitors that would like to expand their reach into Africa and meet potential clients face to face.
The country has an estimated population of 14.6 million, of which 45 percent reside in urban areas, making Zambia one of the most highly urbanised countries in Africa. The main urban cities are Lusaka in the midlands, Ndola and Kitwe on the Copperbelt area and Livingstone in the south. Source: www.zambiapretoria.net/zambia-at-a-glance/. South Africans travelling to Zambia do not need a visa.
The expo is taking place from 8-9 June 2017 at Mulungushi International Convention Centre.
