PRINTING United Expo Day Two: A Wonderland of Opportunity

To call the PRINTING United Expo a “playground” does a disservice to the seriousness of what’s happening here in Las Vegas. Business owners from across the wide-format spectrum are here to connect, compare, and purchase– defining future directions for their businesses. Others, from other print segments, are also here examining the possibilities, seeking to converge. A better term to describe the expo, perhaps, is “wonderland.” It is a place of new ideas, potential futures, new opportunities to do great things. So, welcome to wonderland.

Day two of the 2024 PRINTING United Expo started with a growing hubbub of anticipation, followed by thousands of attendees streaming into the expo’s two massive exhibition halls. The equipment flashed and whirred, colors popped, and applications impressed.

Industry OEMs are offering solutions targeted to specific production needs. | Credit: Wide-format Impressions

On the Expo Floor

From an equipment standpoint, choices for wide-format producers and other enterprising printing companies only continue to expand, and OEMs including Mimaki USA, Epson Americas, and Canon Solutions America have introduced systems that ease access to new opportunities and add capabilities. In a segment where successful differentiation is key to accessing higher-value work, it is exciting to see continually expanding equipment choices – in printers, media, finishing, and software solutions. Point to consider: it may be a lack of vision, not a lack of possibility, that keeps some graphics producers operating in highly-saturated, low-margin spaces. The technology is here.

Other technologies on display maximize the possibilities of automation through process integration, and the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) by equipment and solutions manufacturers is providing a tantalizing glimpse of what is to come.

Your Wide-format Impressions News Team, in its Expo-focused edition of Wide-format Weekly, highlighted its key takeaways from the first two days of the event. That video segment is live now.

Attendee and Exhibitor Impressions

Stuart Fox, president and CEO of Kongsberg Precision Cutting Systems said about the event that he was “Pleasantly surprised … I’m impressed.” He added that he likes the fact that the annual event features the whole of the printing industry and that he appreciates the diversity of the exhibitors. Further, he said if attendees – including wide-format producers – embrace all the things on display and available for consideration at the event, they can have what he referred to as “a colorful business” – one possessing a broad range of possibilities.

In the Epson America booth, Reed Hecht, group product manager – professional imaging, said, “So far the traffic’s been great. We’ve had a lot of interested customers. Great conversation– great meetings with a lot of our partners and a lot of our customers. So far, so good.”

At this year’s expo, Epson is launching a handful of new products and demonstrating the strong “pop” of expanded color sets. Hecht says he has noticed an increase in companies from across the printing industry looking for new opportunities and picking and choosing technologies (and segments) to fulfill their differentiation and business goals.

SMEs Share Their Knowledge

Highlighting the efforts PRINTING United Alliance– the industry trade association that presents PRINTING United Expo– undertakes to support the printing industry, the event features several of the Alliance’s subject matter experts, who were on hand to educate and advise.

Stephanie Buka, government affairs coordinator for PRINTING United Alliance, shared that she has been explaining what the organization has been doing on Capitol Hill. “We want to educate lawmakers about the value and the economic power of print,” she said. Describing recent victories, including a successful effort in New York state to block a ban on the use of carbon black, she said the Alliance is working to ensure printers can run their businesses as expected. “We’re getting great feedback from the industry,” she proudly stated. “People want to get involved.”

Another Alliance SME, Gary Jones, director, environment, health and safety affairs at PRINTING United Alliance noted he has fielded a lot of questions from companies expanding into new buildings or locations that have questions about OSHA compliance. They are curious, he says, about what they need to do. Sustainability, he says, is also top of mind for many. “I’m getting lots of questions about sustainable substrates: How do I know they’re sustainable? How do I sort through various sustainability claims?” Regarding the growing presence of sustainability in the printing industry, Jones says, “I honestly think we’re at the tipping point.”

Searching for Solutions

Asked to share his impressions of the expo, Gene Hamzhie, CEO of Firesprint (Omaha, Nebraska) mentioned the value of being able to see all vendor offerings, all in one place. “One of the things I love most about PRINTING United is just the wide array, the vast array small vendors that we have," he said. "They are vendors that we never would have known even existed in any other way. We can come and see their product lines. The big guys are great … but it’s really the little guys that draw me here, year after year.”

Mark Michelson celebrates retirement with the Wide-format Impressions News Team (left to right: Dan Marx, Gabrielle Houck, Mark Michelson, Toni McQuilken, Denise Gustavson) | Credit: Wide-format Impressions

A Fitting Salute

The day ended for some with a heartfelt recognition– attended by a broad range of PRINTING United Alliance, and NAPCO Media employees, as well as an extended group of the printing industry media and manufacturer communities -- to bid a fond adieu to Mark Michelson, who has served as the editor-in-chief of Printing Impressions for more than 40 years. Michelson is an industry legend– well known and highly respected. The Wide-format Impressions team salutes Mark as he retires and wishes him a future of good health, happiness, and love.

Editor's Note: Mark, don't be a stranger!