The breakthrough exhibition for the industrial print sector welcomed visitors from all over the world. Leading international companies and the most innovative SMEs from both manufacturing and print sectors had the opportunity to exchange advanced technical knowledge and to explore new partnerships in the most important market place in Italy.

Milan – the first InPrint Italy, the only exhibition dedicated exclusively to industrial print technology in Italy, concluded successfully on 17November at the MiCo Milano Congressi exhibition centre. 

A total of 2,900 visitors came to meet 118 exhibitors from 13 countries to discover the latest and best in the three sectors of industrial printing: functional, decorative and packaging. While 69% of visitors were from Italy, 31% were international, from 56 countries. Following those from Italy, the majority were from Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, France and Spain. There were also a considerable number from non-EU countries including the USA, China, Russia, India, Japan, Australia, Korea, Argentina and South Africa.

The event was attended by a unique and large percentage of visitors who had not attended previous InPrint Shows in Germany, in so doing achieving the organisers' aim of creating new business opportunities and growing industrial print. Visitors were looking for customised systems and technology solutions from the manufacturing and print sectors. Almost 65% of attendees were from the printing industry. Among those, digital (33.7%), inkjet (24.2%) and screen printing (19.8%) were the areas most represented. 26% of visitors came from manufacturing industry, mainly from the textiles, plastics, electronics, mechanical engineering and automotive sectors, while 9% were from packaging. 

Leading companies in a large variety of industry sectors visited the show:  Panasonic, Olivetti, Philips, Siemens (electronics); Daimler AG, Mercedes Benz, Groupe PSA, Reydel Automotive (automotive); Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Giorgio Armani (luxury goods); D. Swarovski KG, Yoox, Luxottica, The Swatch Group and Pininfarina Extra (fashion and design). Market leaders looking for solutions for their specific needs also attended the event: from packaging (Adobe Systems, Kiko Milano) to the food sector (A. Loacker, Lindt & Sprüngli) and many other diverse applications (Franco Cosimo Panini, Bormioli Luigi, Clementoni, Airbus, Kodak) and Roland, Xerox, HP, OKI (printing machinery).

Decorative printing was the prime area of interest for 32.7% of visitors, followed by functional (31.5%), packaging printing (20.3%) and 3D printing / additive manufacturing (15.2%).

Machinery and printing systems, print heads, materials and substrates were among the most sought-after products and services. 

The organisers conceived InPrint Italy as a highly innovative exhibition showing cutting-edge technology and with this in mind they received very positive feedback from exhibitors, who reported visitors of a very high calibre. The show statistics also showed the high level of responsibility of the attendees from Executive Management / Managing Director (22.3%), Research &Development (15.5%), Planning / Design (7.8%) to Purchasing / Procurement / Contract buyers (6%). The objective of the show was to bring together creators and so called “early adopters”, who came from all over the world, in the most important market place in Italy. 

A comprehensive programme of events attended by 640 participants

Of added value for participants in the exhibition was the opportunity to be able to network across several segments of the printing process. New partnerships and ideas for new solutions arose, encouraged by visitor demand and by the InPrint Italy seminars and conferences.

The exhibition was supported by an extensive seminar and conference programme comprising around 60 sessions in the three days of InPrint Italy. Quality was the common link throughout, with numerous sessions offering a comprehensive overview of future developments in the industry. The contributions by leading experts in the field, sharing their knowledge in the three fields of application – functional, decorative and packaging printing, were highly appreciated by a total of 640 participants. Particularly successful were the Tech Talks, with debates around key technical topics such as inks, print heads and integration.

Ways of looking into the future was a recurring theme of this first edition in Italy, helped by the Great Innovations Competition won by Alchemie Technology for their Digital Powder Printing. Heidelberg were ‘Highly Commended’ with the launch of the industrial direct to shape inkjet machine, the Omnifire 1000, and for the first time organisers introduced the InPrint Founders Award in memory of Paolo Capano, former Managing Director of INX Digital Italy and an inspirational figure in the development of industrial printing technology. The award recognises leadership, entrepreneurial spirit and collaboration and was presented to Cefla JetSet.

InPrint Italy returns in 2018

The second edition of InPrint Italy has been confirmed – it will take place at the MiCo Milano Congressi in November 2018. One third of available floor space has already been reserved by returning exhibitors – among them some of the leading companies in the industry such as Heidelberg, Fujifilm, Mimaki, Kyocera, Ricoh, Ceradrop, Gruppo Tecnoferrari and Sensient.

Ahead of the next event in Italy, FM Brooks, part of Mack Brooks Exhibitions group, is organising two more InPrint shows: from 25 to 27 April 2017 in Orlando, USA, and from 14 to 16 November 2017 in Munich, Germany.