What was so special about LabelExpo 2017 (September 25 – 28 in Brussels, Belgium)? Wasn’t it just another trade show that gave hardware and software vendors a chance to meet customers and dazzle prospects? In a word, no. Although attendees could have come to browse only the stands that were displaying what they wanted to see, the attendees to this year’s event seemed to be seeking solutions—not just a new label press or cutting solution. The attendees of LabelExpo 2017 were truly intrigued with the possibilities of hybrid presses that combined analog and digital technologies. They were asking hard questions of all of the vendors who blazed promises of workflow solutions across their stand signage. In fact, several attendees specifically mentioned that they had brought checklists and were visiting as many vendor booths as possible in their search for solutions that would help them grow their businesses in today’s very competitive market.

If you read David Zwang’s excellent breakdown of the exhibitors and their solutions at LabelExpo 2017, you’ll already know that this was a global show. This event covered a lot of ground—not only physically with 9 halls of exhibitors, but also in concepts. The theme of this year’s show was Gain an Unfair Advantage, and this was not an overstatement of the possibilities for savvy attendees.

Those that were interested in a live, working example of what’s possible in a modern label shop only had to attend one of the demonstrations in the Automation Arena, where vendors like Cerm, Esko, Xeikon, MPS, Kocher + Beck, grafotronic, AVT, WLE, and Matho were supported by Avery Dennison, FlintGroup, and Zeller + Gmelin for inks and substrates. The demonstration offered proof of concepts that covered every step of the process: