Digital printing should have been at the fore at Labelexpo, which should have been the first of the major international trade shows to return as concerns about Covid ease.
The show takes place every two years and was last staged in September 2019. The 2021 event was rescheduled and was due to take place at the Brussels Expo site at the end of April. But organiser Tarsus has cancelled the show, blaming supply chain issues in Europe, exacerbated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, for a decision to cancel the spring date and to return to Belgium for the next show in September 2023.
The decision was taken in collaboration with exhibitors, associations and the wider industry says Labelexpo managing director Lisa Milburn. She says: “This has been a very difficult decision for us to make, we have been working tirelessly to overcome the supply chain issues and produce the show the industry needs, especially in light of the challenges of the past two years. Unfortunately these issues have proven to be insurmountable.”
The likes of Xeikon, Canon and Mark Andy had announced plans to show new models, and while HP Indigo was not expected to launch a new press, it would have been a first opportunity to see the Indigo 8K planned for a Drupa launch.
There were however a number of gaps on the analogue side of the sector with Gallus, Bobst, Nilpeter and Edale not part of the event, though Mark Andy, MPS, Focus Label Machinery and Omet planned to fly the flag for flexo printing. There was almost a complete absence of Chinese technology, a reflection of that country’s continuing battle with the pandemic.
Nevertheless there were enough exhibitors to fill six halls of the site, possibly in a more relaxed way than had every target exhibitor signed up. Other spaces on the floor plans were marked as Reserved up to the decision to pull the plug, indicative of efforts to enlarge the show. In the end, supply chain problems which are making it difficult for suppliers to plan and commit machines and materials, proved the final straw. “The lack of forward visibility led the event team to reschedule in the best interests of the label community” according to a statement.
The event was to feature the ongoing tussle between analogue and digital printing, with live demonstrations and seminar sessions to educate visitors towards making the correct choice for their businesses. That educational opportunity will now be missed.
Highlights on the digital side was to include the Xeikon CX500, a 520mm wide web configured for label printing and despite a top speed of 30m/min competitive with inkjet because of the extra web width. It also has the latest upgrades to its own inkjet presses, the seven colour PX30000 and the entry level PX3300. The company has also recently announced the availability of a Label Converting Unit for inline finishing it intended to demonstrate.
Canon is newer to label printing, though not to inkjet. It planned to have the latest version of the LabelStream 4000 as both purely digital and hybrid configurations. This is a UV inkjet press offering seven colours and with options of flexo units before and after the inkjet module as well as inline finishing. It prints to a 410mm wide web with Xaar printheads at up to 75m/min.
Mark Andy slated three digital presses for Brussels: the Digital Pro, which is outwardly similar to the Konica Minolta AccuroLabel 230, the flagship Digital Series HD built on its own inkjet development on Ricoh printheads and the new Digital Series IQ a hybrid press using a Domino inkjet module.
It is not all about inkjet and other forms of digital printing: ambitious Dutch manufacturer MPS planned to launch the latest version of its EF flexo press, billed as a next generation machine, at the show. This is among the first, if not the first, label press to embrace connectivity and automation beyond the press itself, through the MPS Connect platform architecture. Bobst has similar concepts, though within a Bobst workflow. Bobst had already decided against attendance, a decision that will have saved it from the costs of planning, stand design and accommodation that others must now try to recoup.
