Digital discussions at Labelexpo Americas 2014

Of the respondents to a recent Labels & Labeling poll about which digital printing technology printers plan to invest in, more than half indicated inkjet was their preference, with a further 18 percent indicating investment in toner to be their preferred route.

This interest that the market is showing in digital printing technology is to be mirrored at Labelexpo Americas 2014. For starters, the Inkjet Trail, as seen at Labelexpo Europe 2013, is to make its bow at the Rosemont, Illinois show, with Durst, Domino, Epson and EFI to use the same origination for food, personal care and industrial labels, and use identical substrates, to produce examples on their respective technologies.

As you might expect, major exhibitors will be presenting their latest developments in digital printing, with HP Indigo, Xeikon, FFEI, Mark Andy, Primera Technology, Colordyne Technologies, iSys Label, Screen and SPGPrints just some of those showing their technologies – and that’s without mentioning the suppliers elsewhere in the supply chain talking about their consumables and equipment that are applicable to digital printing. UPM Raflatac and Avery Dennison, for example, will be there, as well as supporting the Inkjet Trail feature by providing paper, film and foil substrates for the example labels to be produced during the show.

Away from the show floor, digital will be a strong element of the Labelexpo Americas 2014 conference program. Day one’s schedule includes a digital printing stream, including sessions looking at the role of digital in facilitating global, interactive and personalized marketing campaigns, plus more on the latest developments in inkjet.

Sandwiching these two sessions is a panel discussion on investing in digital, looking at selecting the correct system for a specific business model, theoretical and practical advice, and the benefits of investment.

This discussion will be led Sean Skelly, principal and chief executive officer of Skellyway Consulting, with panellists including Repacorp president Tony Heinl, Middleton Printing president Steve Middleton, Diversified Labeling Solutions owner Bob Hakman and Doug Bartlett, director of graphics at Spear Group Holdings.

The four panellists are sure to provide insightful and valuable first-hand knowledge of investing in digital, which as can be seen in the results of the Labels & Labeling poll and will be seen across Labelexpo Americas 2014, is a big area of interest for label printers and converters.

Sean Skelly is inviting suggestions for questions for the panel discussion he is moderating on September 9 at 3pm via a thread on professional networking site Linkedin, which you can see here.