PrintExpo 2017: A moderate success

“The feedback from the exhibitors was very positive despite the slow first day. Pertinently the quality of visitors was appreciated by all and the business done in the three days has also exceeded expectation for most of the exhibitors,” said Ashok Neelkant, managing director of Intel Trade Fairs & Expositions, organisers of the event.

Exhibitors have cited "economic slowdown" as the reasons for "a smaller and sluggish PrintExpo".

Print and packaging growth took a beating in the fourth quarter on a sequential basis. While print which was averaging with double digit growth saw a slump in the demonetisation quarter (October-December, 2016). Similarly, the months of June and July in 2017 saw SME firms reeling under the impact of GST. Experts hope the confusion over the GST slabs will recede soon; and allay doubts of slow growth in the forthcoming months.

The show with 121 direct exhibitors representing around 200 international brands was organised on a floor space of over 45,000 sq/ft.

Keeping with the exhibition’s digital focus, Xerox continued to occupy prominent position very closely followed by Konica Minolta, Canon, Monotech and Ricoh.

Konica Minolta were one of the first to sign a deal at the exhibition with Dina Color Lab acquiring the KIP 7170 printer- the company’s latest offering.

The show also saw dedicated stands for wide format printers from Insight Communication for HP Latex and from Epson for their wide format printers apart from Monotech joining the list with Mimaki latex printers giving the visitors a wide choice to consider from.

Regular printer exhibitors Shree Maruthi and Zig Zag printers from Coimbatore along with first-time participant from Sivakasi, Lovely Offset saw consistent crowd at their stalls.

Print market place Inkmonk.com made an impressive debut with many curious visitors trying to understand the concept of the business.  Another debutant Pressman academy evoked interest on their products and the company’s education initiatives.

“We had visitors from all the southern states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra, Telangana and also from Maharashtra, Orissa, Gujarat, West Bengal. The exhibitors also appreciated the growing number of international visitors too. We recorded a sizeable number of visitors from Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh,” said Neelkant.

“Encouraged by this years’ success we are already gearing up for the tenth edition in 2018 with plans of added separate titles for paper and packaging part of the June 2018 event,” he concluded.