Lier, Belgium – A record number of visitors attended the 3rd edition of the Xeikon Café Packaging Innovations 2017. The four-day event, which took place March 28 to 31 in Belgium, attracted more than 800 unique international visitors. It featured well-attended and thought provoking business and technical conferences as well as live production of more than 30 key digital print applications. The event also provided an opportunity to view end-to-end solutions from more than 40 industry suppliers.

“Xeikon Cafe was designed to create a relaxed environment where leading-edge technology from Xeikon and our key partners represents all stages of the print production chain. It aims to help visitors identify the best approach to digital production for their businesses and help them clearly see how future developments can support profitable growth,” comments Filip Weymans, Xeikon VP Marketing Digital Print Solutions. “It is always such a pleasure to be able to bring all of the experts together under one roof for the benefit of our customers. We especially thank our speakers and partners for joining us and for sharing their knowledge and expertise with visitors. We are so delighted with how well the event went this year that we have already set the wheels in motion for Xeikon Café 2018.” 

Xeikon used this event to announce an important business expansion for the company, its entry into the production inkjet market with Panther UV inkjet technology, and the first product in that family, the PX3000. “We have targeted this production inkjet press at the industrial labels market,” Weymans added, “and Xeikon Café attendees were the first to see it in action, to rave reviews. Panther technology and the PX3000 is the result of Xeikon’s many years of experience in the label industry and our desire to take our product offerings in this space to the next level. Our acquisition by the Flint Group has made it possible for us to take this important next step.”

Highlights of the Business Conference included an energetic keynote presentation by Rafi Albo from Segmarketing. He showcased some inspirational and creative ways print can be used as part of truly engaging campaigns in a way that makes print interactive. Other speakers, including industry experts Kevin Karstedt (Karstedt Partners) and Sean Smyth (Smithers Pira), covered diverse topics such as important market trends, brand protection, mixing conventional and digital in a hybrid production mode, developing a successful approach to short-run printing, and more. The Technical Conference included deep-dive sessions covering a wide range of topics, from beverage cup production and flexible packaging to durable, wraparound and pharma self-adhesive labels. Ghent Workgroup PDF standards were also discussed with the audience. All the latest news, post-event reports and images can be found at www.xeikoncafe.com as well as on social media channels with the hashtag #XC17. 

What visitors had to say

“We are a flexo house looking to buy our first digital printing press with offline finishing. I have been researching this for a year. I had many questions and I attended to get answers. There is a lot of information readily available at Xeikon Café from Xeikon and its many partners, and that has helped me get the information I need.” - Andrzej Lyczkowski, Drukarina Franczak, Poland

“We bought a Xeikon 3030 this month, and it is our first digital press. I attended Xeikon Café to see what the possibilities are. I am interested in finishing options and the materials we can run. I think Xeikon Café is a very nice idea, especially with the many partners we can talk to.” - Mimouni Abdelhamed, Magicom, Algeria

“It has been very interesting. We came to look at digital print and learn more about what Xeikon is doing. Some of the partners are very interesting as well, and we liked the die-cutting technology which is a very new for us.” - Luis Amozarrain, Igamo Packaging, Spain

“We were keen to learn more about the new Xeikon PX3000 UV inkjet press. It was very interesting for us to see this new development. We already work with Xeikon, but there are many new things we wanted to learn about. Attending the Xeikon Café was very important for us. It also gave us the opportunity to meet new partners.” - George Laudis, CS LabelPrint, Greece

“It was my first time at Xeikon Café, and I think it is a cool event. I was interested in the special solutions and wanted to look at the opportunities for digital labelling. I was also excited to see the new UV inkjet system. It is a new player in the market, and it was definitely something I wanted to look at to see if it is a potential fit for us.” - Lars Kjaerholm, LabelCo, Denmark

“This is my second time at Xeikon Café, and last time we bought our first Xeikon – a 3300. We wanted to know more about the different applications we could produce. We especially wanted to find out about cup forming. We are already selling the cups, and we want to manufacture them in short to medium runs. We didn’t realise there would be so many areas to investigate. It is now a mini-exhibition. That is a bonus.” - Keith Hamilton, James Hamilton Group, Northern Ireland

“We bought a Xeikon 3300 ten months ago, and I have a few ideas about what we would like to do. I came to see how we can make those ideas work. Part of that is looking at finishing. Xeikon Café featured many partners you could talk to. I could get all the help I was looking for.” - Neal Livermore, Douglas Storrie Labels, UK

“We installed a Xeikon 9800 in May, and we were looking for information around substrates. This will help us improve how we serve the markets we are already in and allow us to look at new markets.” - Tsan Wan Tsung and Wu Yi Hsin from a Taiwanese Printing Company

“It was my first time at the Xeikon Café. We are looking at investing in digital print and moving into label production. I was looking at the productivity, efficiency and quality. It is the first step of the project.” - Ahmed Almajdoub, Maher Graphic, Palestine

“This is our third time at the show, and every time we take something new away. It also allows us to repeat some learning from the past, and that is important for our knowledge and education. The organisation this year is very good, with the partners, business conference and technical conference. There are lots of interesting things to learn.” - Chatzichrysos Avgerinos, For Labels, Greece

“We are looking to invest in a digital press in the next six months, so I came to learn all I need to know. I collected information on the folding carton applications and machine capabilities as well as details from the partners. I also enjoyed the business seminars that have highlighted trends in digital print.” - Siaphop Lamchan, Simat Label Co, Bangkok

What Xeikon Café partners had to say

“It was my first time here, and it was a great opportunity to see it both as a visitor and as an exhibitor. It’s a relaxed show, and you can really see how digital print is developing. I think it is a great show.” - Tresu Group, Kim Trintel, Vice President, Digital Solutions, Denmark 

“It was our first time here. What is nice is that it is not such a big event so we were able to have more relaxed and in-depth conversations with customers. At bigger shows, everyone is in a hurry. Our conversations have also been two-way, and we have done some research of our own.” - Tobias Müller, Marketing Manager, Zanders, Germany

“We have worked with Xeikon for many years, so we have been at every Xeikon Café. This year it has been a big inspiration with regard to prospects, opportunities and new ways of doing things. It is always good when people take the time and effort to come to something like this, where they can see and learn new things. We have closed some deals, too.” - Moten Toksvaerd, Sales Manager GM, Denmark

“It was our first time, and it was very good. There was a very enthusiastic audience. We have been able to connect to Xeikon customers and prospects. There was a lot of interest from folding carton manufacturers and converters. We also connected with lots of different partners.” - Stijn Simeons, VP EMEA Scodix, Israel

“This year it was really well attended with a lot of international visitors. We have potentially attracted some new customers. Many of them were label printers looking for new opportunities. They were asking themselves and us ‘what else can we do?’. They were very open minded. It was a very successful event.” - Ralph Knuth, International Sales, Bograma, Switzerland