The future of print at Pamex from 27 to 30 January
The Bombay Exhibition Centre is about to host Pamex 2026, and in the usual flurry of glossy brochures and optimistic pronouncements, one can discern the anxieties of an industry caught between two irreconcilable forces: the tactile, carbon-heavy legacy of ink on paper, and the hyper-efficient, data-driven mandate of Industry 4.0. The show’s promise, "bigger than ever," feels less like a boast and more like a necessary exorcism of doubt.
19 Jan 2026 | 292 Views | By Dibyajyoti Sarma
What’s clear is that the Indian print ecosystem is no longer interested in incremental improvements; it’s demanding a digital twin. Finsys Infotech and Indas Analytics are leading this charge, selling not just Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) but a "decision-driven operating system." Sangeet Kumar Gupta’s talk of a "gate-to-gate digital twin" and Parmeshwar Patidar’s custom Printude.AI apps for everything from costing to HRMS suggest the printer of tomorrow will be less a craftsman and more a data scientist. The shop floor, we are told, will talk to the ERP. The question, of course, is what happens to the human on the shop floor when the ERP gets truly chatty.
This digital fever is met by an equally fervent push into premium packaging. Webtech is showcasing an Indian-engineered, triple-servo flexo press that, by all accounts, aims for "European-level print quality"—a telling, if perhaps weary, benchmark. Meanwhile, True Colors Solutions is redefining the corrugated box with advanced water-based inkjet, transforming the humble brown carton into a premium-quality canvas. The luxury segment, that oasis of high-margin work, is being catered to by Druck & Bindung Machinery, which dares to globally launch its advanced layflat photobook binder and a fully automatic collapsible box solution in Mumbai. This is not about survival; it's about competitive global swagger.
Yet, for all the futuristic talk, the ground realities remain stubbornly traditional. GEW’s UV curing systems are pushing their ArcLED compatibility, offering printers a reassuring escape hatch: the ability to switch between UV arc and UV LED on the same press. This "future-proofs" their process, which is industry-speak for "we know you’re not ready to fully commit." Similarly, the Java Paper Group’s Hema Java grounds the sustainability megatrend in the familiar: premium paperboards for packaging and visiting cards—the physical calling cards of a digital age.
The sheer volume of specialised solutions speaks to the market's fragmentation. From Zund’s precision cutting tables and Kongsberg's flexible prototyping systems to DGM Automation’s die-cutters with inline braille embossing, Pamex 2026 is less a unified marketplace and more a collection of hyper-specific technological monasteries. Even the used machinery market, represented by Sri Vishnu Print Point, makes a compelling case, arguing for reliable, production-ready European and Japanese relics over the current crop of low-cost alternatives—a quiet, but hard-hitting critique of the low-quality flood Marcus Greenbrook of GEW noted.
The overwhelming takeaway is that the Indian graphics art industry is shedding its skin. It’s an anxious, exhilarating, and deeply complex process. Automation, sustainability, and connectivity are no longer buzzwords; they are the price of entry. But beneath the chrome and the code, there is still the faint, persistent whisper of the press: the thwack of the perfect binder, the hiss of the chemical bath, the tactile reality of paper.
Pamex 2026 is the sound of an industry trying to digitise its soul without losing its heart. One can only hope the new machines are listening.
You can meet me along with the PrintWeek Team on all four days at Hall 1 in P41.