LEATHERHEAD, Surrey, UK – Smithers Pira, the worldwide authority on the packaging, paper and print industry supply chains, has announced that two of its industry experts are to present at Drupa 2016. 

Dominic Cakebread, renowned expert in global packaging, will explore prospects for printing within the packaging market. Driven on the one hand by brand owners’ increasing demands for greater differentiation, personalisation and a more engaging relationship with consumers, and on the other hand by the increasing availability of new and disruptive technologies, the printing requirements for the global packaging industry are expected to undergo major change over the next decade, with ever higher quality and faster digital printing expected to take share from traditional printing methods. Dominic will examine the main opportunities and barriers to growth and how the printing industry can best meet the future demands of the global packaging sector.

Sean Smyth, who has spent over 25 years as a consultant in the print industry, will analyse disruptive trends in functional and industrial printing in a talk that focuses on the rapidly emerging use of printing-for-profit in novel areas outside the traditional graphics and packaging arenas. Inkjet is being adopted strongly in many areas of functional printing – promotional items, glass, electronics, décor, and 3D. Additive manufacturing is being studied in pure and applied research labs in universities, and at large companies, with new fluids and techniques being brought to market. Sean will outline the findings of Smithers Pira research into the sector, presenting highlights from the recently published market report The Future of Functional and Industrial Print to 2020.