FESPA, the global federation of national Associations for the speciality print industry, will introduce a new Digital Corrugated Experience at FESPA Global Print Expo 2018 (Messe Berlin, 15-18 May 2018).

FESPA's Digital Corrugated Experience is an educational and experiential area, which will showcase the commercial and production advantages of digital print for corrugated packaging and retail display applications, aiming to highlight to packaging converters and box-makers the benefits of integrating digital technology into their production mix.

The Digital Corrugated Experience will address all elements involved in printing corrugated materials, including: substrates; workflow solutions; digital printing technologies; materials handling; primers, inks, coatings and varnishes; and cutting and folding.  Digital print complements traditional analogue methods, enabling converters and display makers to expand their offering with prototyping, short-run, versioning or customisation of boxes and displays.

Located in Hall 5.2 at Messe Berlin, the new area will have a different format to the rest of the FESPA 2018 exhibition. It will combine short educational Print Corrugated conferences with business-building discussions with industry-leading suppliers, among them HP, Lamina, Sun Automation, Inca Digital and BCS- Autobox. Participating conference speakers will include independent industry specialists, experts and brands.

Visitors will also gain inspiration and knowledge from a showcase of digitally printed corrugated applications, such as shelf-ready and transit packaging boxes, pallet surrounds, promotional packaging and POS displays, supported by like-for-like printing comparisons, samples and narratives helping visitors to evaluate the wide range of commercially available solutions.

The launch of a FESPA Digital Corrugated Experience reflects growing interest from both the packaging and speciality printing communities in the technology solutions, materials and workflows required to take advantage of digital print for short run and customised packaging. This is supported by independent research by Smithers Pira, which predicts that digitally printed corrugated material will accelerate from a global value of $1.44 billion today to be worth over $2.35 billion by 2020.

FESPA CEO Neil Felton explains: "FESPA has been a leading force in the transition from analogue to digital print in the signage and graphics market, guiding our community of printers and sign-makers on the integration of digital inkjet technology alongside their analogue production processes as a driver of business transformation.

Felton continues: "When it comes to corrugated, many of our exhibitors have expertise in preparing, printing and finishing these materials for signage, display and packaging applications. This specialist knowledge is vital, not only for packaging converters, but also for the FESPA print service provider community, for whom short-run promotional packaging may represent a valuable new revenue opportunity capitalising on their experience of flatbed printing and cutting, and their existing supply chain relationships with brand owners and retailers."

Luis Christophe, EMEA Corrugated Segment Marketing Manager at HP, a sponsor of the new feature, comments: "HP is very pleased that FESPA is organising a dedicated Digital Corrugated Experience. We have seen a lot of interest from the corrugated industry in learning more about the economics of digital production, the potential to add value, and the workflow implications of integrating digital technologies into the existing production environment. We are excited to showcase our applications in both pre- and post-print and to offer visitors in-depth discussions with our specialists."

FESPA Head of Events Duncan MacOwan concludes:  "FESPA's Digital Corrugated Experience aims to offer an excellent return on time investment for corrugated box-makers, converters and large format print service providers who are interested in entering the short-run packaging market. In the space of a single day at FESPA Global Print Expo in Berlin, they will have the opportunity to deepen their understanding of the latest technological developments in digital printing and converting of corrugated board, and the chance to look at the entire corrugated production process. Through the applications showcase, they'll discover the technology behind a range of finished products, while gaining valuable insights from the expert conference sessions."

FESPA's Digital Corrugated Experience is free to attend for registered visitors to FESPA 2018 Global Print Expo. For more information visit: www.corrugatedexperience.com.