Digital print giant Canon and finishing specialist Watkiss Automation Sales have become two of the latest companies to sign up to exhibit at The Print Show this year, as organisers reveal that the 2017 event is on track to smash all previous capacity and attendance records.
Since its launch in 2015, The Print Show has grown year-on-year and established itself as the leading print event in the UK market. This year’s edition of the show will feature some of the biggest names in the global print industry, each of which will be showcasing some of their latest kit to a UK-focused audience.
Canon is one of the latest market leaders to sign up to exhibit and will feature at the show for the third consecutive year. One of the main driving forces behind the explosion of digital print in recent years, Canon will be showcasing a host of its kit at The Print Show this year.
The company is known for its ability to supply a whole host of printing solutions; ranging from smaller-format office printers and production printers, right up to the more wide- and large-format devices.
Among the commercial printing solutions Canon offers to the market are its cut-sheet colour printers such as the imagePRESS C10000VP, which can hit speeds of up to 100 pages per minute on media up to 350gsm, while the imagePRESS C850 and C750 models can hit speeds of 85 and 75 pages per minute, respectively.
In terms of wide-format inkjet machines, Canon boasts a number of options such as the Océ Colorado 1640, a 64” model that features Canon’s UVgel technology and can produce output in qualities of 600 x 1800dpi.
Also on offer to the market are a host of flatbed printers within the Océ Arizona range, and visitors to the show this year can learn more about such solutions. As one example of these products, both the Océ Arizona 6160 XTS and 6170 XTS can run at a maximum print speed of 155sq m/hr, thus offering a high-output solutions to users.
Speaking about the addition of Canon to the floorplan for this year, Adam Every, account manager for the manufacturer at The Print Show, comments: “It has been a long journey to get Canon on board and for me to get such an iconic brand on-board has filled me with an enormous sense of pride.
“From the long-established quality of their camera products, to the state-of-the-art printers they do now, I have been impressed with the values that Canon holds dear proving that a multinational company still has family at the centre of its core.
“I have been impressed by their commitment to The Print Show and their planned marketing campaign is very structured, and I am looking forward to being a part of it.”
Meanwhile, another major company that will again feature on the show floor this year is Watkiss Automation, one of the leading names in print finishing technology. The firm will be demonstrating a selection of booklet making, laminating and perfect binding technology at the show.
Set to feature on Stand G-08 at The Print Show 2017 is the Watkiss PowerSquare 224 system, which features full bleed trimming and dynamic auto-adjustment to produce perfect stitching and book quality regardless of sheet count. Visitors will be able to see the machine producing colour stitched booklets at the event.
In addition, visitors will be able to see first-hand both single- and double-sided lamination on the automatic Plasti 350XP laminator and the table top Plasti 330.
Speaking about the decision to commit to the event again, Paul Attew, sales director at Watkiss, comments: “Exhibitions like The Print Show are the perfect opportunity for us to meet with customers, demonstrate our technology and respond to their print finishing needs.
“We’re focused on helping our customers finish their output on-demand, on-time and on-budget.”
Showcasing the firepower of print
Meanwhile, with the show now less than two months away, confirmed exhibitors have started to reveal details of their plans for the show. SSE Worldwide recently announced that it will join forces with Axzyra at this year’s edition of The Print Show to demonstrate the range of Apache small-format, UV LED flatbed inkjet printers.
Available for viewing on Stand I16, the latest series of Apache machines have a print area of 600 x 900mm. The printers also feature CMYK plus white as standard and are able to print onto substrates or objects up to a depth of 150mm.
Scott Armitage, managing director of SSE Worldwide, said: “The Print Show is a great showcase for the industry and we are delighted to be back again this year. The event attracts decision-makers who are looking for new ways of printing and finishing.”
Steve Woods, managing director at Axzyra, added: “The Apache is a productive, quick turnaround, short-run machine that can play a key role in opening new markets for printers. Our customers include the engineering, automotive, mobile phone, technology and promotional merchandise sectors.”
Elsewhere, IST (UK) has also revealed that it will use this year’s edition of The Print Show to debut its new Hot Swap technology in the UK market. Hot Swap allows sheetfed, web or narrow web printers to run both UV and LED-UV on a single machine, with IST (UK) adding that the technology also enables users to switch quickly between UV lamps and LED arrays.
The concept has already attracted praise from a number of sectors and was also short-listed in the Stationers’ Company Innovation of the Year Awards this year.
Chris Schofield, joint managing director of IST (UK), said: “Printers are expected to supply shorter and shorter runs to tighter and tighter deadlines and this is key to the growing popularity of UV, LED-UV and LE-UV systems.
“It is the ability to have dry sheets off the end of the press that is key to investment in this area but there are other advantages including the lift in aesthetic finish, lower energy consumption and the elimination of spray powder.”
While the many technologies on the show floor may be the main attraction for most exhibitors, this year, The Print Show will this year host a key event away from the hustle and bustle of the halls.
Kall Kwik will stage its annual general meeting at the event and encourage as many of its members as possible to attend for find out more about what the company has in store for the near future.
Speaking about the decision Nigel Toplis, chief executive of the Bardon Group, which oversees the Kall Kwik network, said that when the opportunity to host the AGM at The Print Show arose, it was a “no brainer” to agree to the terms.
Toplis said: “Since its launch, The Print Show has gone from strength to strength, constantly securing some of the biggest names in the print industry and adding more to each edition. When the opportunity came up to work with the show for this year, we thought this was too good to turn down and are now delighted to be working with the event.
“It was a no-brainer; The Print Show is the industry show, with the iconic brand. Combining a discussion on strategy, opportunities and new income streams with the ability to see potentially new income streams and new opportunities.
“I want to take the time to catch up with old faces and also new opportunities. Ostensibly, the show may be about technology, a new process or a different solution, but for me, the show is all about people and meeting up with people I believe can help my business.”
