The Next Evolution of the SGIA Expo

Over the past 20 years, the print and graphics industry has seen unprecedented changes and consolidation. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, printing establishments in the U.S. decreased from 35,016 in 2000 to 24,096 in 2015, a decline of 31.2 percent. At the same time, however, print shops have expanded their range of services. The Idealliance 2016 State of the Industry Report notes that in 2000 86.8 percent of print shop revenue came from lithographic (offset) print technology. By 2016, that number had dropped to 42.3 percent as print shop owners looked to new technologies - digital, inkjet, packaging, mailing, industrial - to increase their revenue and profit.

The SGIA (Booth 2245) Expo has changed, too. Back when it first began in the 1940s, it was a screen printing show. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, there was a screen printing side and a wide-format side. The association even embraced digital technologies to such a degree that at a certain point the show was known as “the wide-format show”. Now, in 2017, SGIA represents a broad array of print-related technologies.

Today’s printing industry - and the SGIA Expo itself - is driven by this convergence of technologies and capabilities, a blending and blurring of market segments and specialties.

In light of these industry trends, on Monday, October 9, the Specialty Graphic Imaging Association (SGIA) Board of Directors announced that SGIA and NAPCO Media entered a partnership that will offer print service providers and industry suppliers an unrivalled platform to connect. PRINTING United, a brand-new event and the next evolution of printing expositions in North America, focuses on the opportunities this convergence presents. PRINTING United combines the largest printing trade show in North America — SGIA Expo — with NAPCO Media’s commercial, in-plant and package printing audiences to provide a “onestop” exposition for all technologies and markets within the graphic and visual communications industry.

“PRINTING United reflects what we understand is taking place in the larger community of print. It is supported by anecdotal reports from exhibitors and printers and is backed up by research across all of the print segments,” said Rich Thompson of Ad Graphics, Chairman of the SGIA Board of Directors after the unanimous vote by the SGIA Board of Directors. “The convergence of technology and capabilities underway is leading printers to expand their services and products into adjacent markets very rapidly, creating new opportunities and growing their businesses as a result. PRINTING United will present a broad vision of these opportunities under one roof as well as the means for printers to expand their businesses.”

PRINTING United Details
Launching in Dallas, TX, October 23-25, 2019, the PRINTING United experience will include an expansive and comprehensive display of printing technologies and supplies, education, programming and services to take any printing business to the next level. PRINTING United will give print providers integrated access not only to North America’s biggest trade show for the print industry, but also to NAPCO Media’s deep expertise and focused strategy for the print market.

PRINTING United will focus on the opportunities presented by the convergence of printing technologies and markets. PRINTING United will have the broadest range of printing and finishing technologies and media on the Expo floor, covering industry segments from garment to graphic, packaging to commercial, and industrial. The objective of PRINTING United is to convey all the components of an integrated solution to satisfy any client need.

PRINTING United is co-owned by SGIA and NAPCO Media. Ford Bowers of SGIA serves as PRINTING United’s CEO, and Mark Subers of NAPCO Media is its president.

“PRINTING United is a strategic response to what the industry has been asking for,” said Ford Bowers, CEO and President, SGIA. “It’s about the wealth of opportunities for printers and suppliers that result from the convergence of markets and technology.”

“Our partnership truly creates a new platform, which helps attendees, suppliers, and channels to connect in a way that’s not been possible before,” said Mark Subers, President/ CRO – Printing & Packaging, Publishing, NAPCO Media. “It’s this integrated approach - offering access to all printing technologies in one place - which suppliers will find not just compelling, but absolutely necessary to reach print service providers in the graphic and visual communications industry.”

For printers, PRINTING United will bring the same opportunities they are accustomed to finding at the SGIA Expo - and more. “Widening our reach in other areas ultimately means a stronger show that better serves all facets of the printing industry, including you,” Bowers says. “And, if you are looking to change your business, add new sources of production or revenue, PRINTING United is what you need to understand what’s available, from market opportunities to technologies.”

The SGIA Expo will retire after its 2018 event in Las Vegas.