“PACK PRINT INTERNATIONAL plays key role in gathering stakeholders across the packaging and printing value chain”
Opening its doors later this month from the 18 – 21 September at BITEC, Bangna, is the 7th International Packaging and Printing Exhibition for Asia. The largest of its kind in Southeast Asia, PACK PRINT INTERNATIONAL 2019 is industry collaboration between The Thai Packaging Association, The Thai Printing Association and Messe Düsseldorf Asia. This year, the exhibition is set to welcome 17,000 trade visitors with 30 percent coming from outside Thailand.
Over 4 days, PACK PRINT INTERNATIONAL will present an enhanced exhibit range of machinery and innovations by 300 leading companies from over 25 countries and regions. Packaging and printing big weights this year – many of which are repeat exhibitors – including HP, Heidelberg, Koenig & Bauer, Konica Minolta, Riso, Fujifilm, Ricoh, Bobst, KURZ, Zund, Fuji Xerox, SCG Packaging, Sansin, Selic Corp, PMC Label Materials, Canon and more. All in, these exhibition indicators reflect PACK PRINT INTERNATIONAL’s relevance as an essential platform to meet quality buyers and relevant partners on an international scale.
With a successful track record that continues to gain momentum since 2007, PACK PRINT INTERNATIONAL also serves as a strategic launchpad into Thailand and the wider Southeast Asia. Reiterating this is Mr. Gernot Ringling, Managing Director of Messe Düsseldorf Asia, who shares that the exhibition’s multifaceted showcase of latest products and solutions, knowledge-driven conferences and seminars, a wide array of live product demonstrations and abundance of networking opportunities, is where the ‘magic’ happens. “In gist, the face-to-face, dedicated setting of a trade exhibition becomes that much-needed focal point for buyers to gain better business prospects, make informed sourcing decisions through real-time cross comparison of products and solution, and valuable opportunities for Thai businesses and entrepreneurs to up their competitive edge in the international marketplace,” he says.
Shaping the Future of Packaging and Printing in Asia
Led by modernism and changes in consumer behavior, the global digital packaging printing market is on a steady growth to reach US$286 billion come 2020. In Thailand, the same is expected as demand for package printing is set to rise as both domestic and export markets for products of all types, particularly processed food, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, and e-commerce will expand.
Meeting these market trends with their innovations and solutions are participating exhibitors such as HP, Heidelberg, Ricoh and SCG Packaging. For HP, expect to see their unique digital offset process that is enabled by HP Indigo’s liquid ElectroInk technology. Equivalent or even exceeding offset, HP Indigo ElectroInk has the widest digital color gamut, in addition to special inks, using up to 7 ink stations on the press. Additionally, the HP Indigo Digital Print Pavilion, a debut to this year’s show floor, will showcase 10 of their partners who have leveraged on the capabilities of HP machines to unlock opportunities of high digital productivity.
Heidelberg, with Masterwork, will introduce their end-to-end packaging production workhorses at the exhibition. Launched for the first time in Thailand at PACK PRINT INTERNATIONAL 2019 is the Speedmaster CX 75. The multi-talent press with a new modern Ergonomic design is infused with the design philosophy of the Peak Performance Class XL 106. Smarter workflow comes with the Prinect Workflow System that integrates the entire print production process to enhance productivity and profitability.
Ricoh, on the other hand, will launch 3 new printers at the exhibition. First up, the new Direct to Garment Ri 1000 which is capable of printing a full-color, 10” x 18″ CMYK image in 28 seconds. This is followed by the Pro L5160, the company’s new wide-format latex printer that provides segment-leading print speeds for fast turns and the Pro 8300 series of mono sheetfed presses for short-run production demands.
In adhering to the Circular Economy concept, total packaging solutions provider, SCG Packaging will showcase innovations and technologies that value add to the manufacturing processes through the effective use of resources in its close-loop packaging.
Thailand 4.0: Innovation and Advanced Technologies
With Thailand 4.0 well underway as the country aims to future-proof the local workforce and nurture innovation for 10 key industries, adoption of advanced technologies and know-how of international companies is essential.
Against this backdrop, long-term prospects for Thailand will see the country moving to become a competitive developed country. Reaffirming this is Mr. Kriengkrai Thiennukul, Vice Chairman of The Federation of Thai Industries, who shared that, “in empowering businesses, it is important for Thailand to continue to support local companies to enhance their capability through advanced technology adoption. With capabilities upgrade, comes progression to advanced manufacturers, and a stronger economy and enhanced national competitiveness.”
Specifically, for Thailand’s packaging and printing sectors, he added that companies will need to adapt to new competitive landscapes, revamp business models and find new ways to create value to succeed. “As such, international exhibitions such as PACK PRINT INTERNATIONAL offer an added channel in heightening our efforts to prepare our packaging and printing industries for the future and better position Thai companies for global opportunities. On behalf of the Federation, we look forward to strengthening our relationship with all 3 co-organisers in presenting an exhibition for the industry, by the industry,” says Mr. Kriengkrai.
Special highlights: Thematic Zones
Innovation and accessibility to technology is key to advancing Thailand’s packaging future, which has since been laid out on a whole new level, with packaging and printing playing to each other’s strengths. It is therefore important for local businesses to align themselves with the global packaging printing trends and step up by becoming more connected to networks and trade partners, which would certainly pave the way to new business opportunities.
The return of the successful One Stop Pack & Print Pavilion will provide just that platform for innovative packaging designs, packaging end-users, packaging producers, material suppliers and machine manufacturers, to come together to source and share best practices. Elaborating on this is Mr. Manit Kamolsuwan, President of The Thai Packaging Association, who mentioned that the Pavilion, supported by key industry organizations, “will serve as a hub for trade professionals to reach out to member companies and packaging users, and get free professional advice at consultancy clinics.”
The exhibition will also put the spotlight on other thematic highlights. These include a Labelling Zone that would cover advanced end-use packaging applications to a wider spectrum of label printing, a Prototype & Design showcase, as well as displays of product packaging designs by students of Toyota Art Camp University and winning entries of the AsiaStar 2019 Awards.
Knowledge-driven conferences and seminars
Another highlight at PACK PRINT INTERNATIONAL 2019 is the host of concurrent informative sessions by thought-leaders and innovators. Of particular mention is the ASEAN Printing and Packaging Conference held in conjunction with the ASEAN Printing Forum 2019. This edition marks an extra special occasion as Thailand takes on the chairmanship of ASEAN this year and plays host. On the back of the 4th Industrial Revolution, the Forum will signify how ASEAN can come together to enhance competitiveness, build immunities from disruptive technologies and take on future challenges led by the emergence of technological advances.
Commenting on the ASEAN Printing and Packaging Conference, Mr Phongthira Pathanapiradej, President of The Thai Printing Association says: “Attendees from the various ASEAN nations can look forward to a series of talks covering global outlook of the printing and industry, market opportunities, as well as successful case studies, amongst others.”
On this education and knowledge track, other sessions that will run alongside the exhibition include the Asian packaging seminar on sustainable packaging for the circular economy by the Asian Packaging Federation, a Food & Beverage Packaging conference, 2019 Asian Print Awards, a workshop on professional product photography by Photo Business Association, Thailand, as well as free-to-attend technical presentations by exhibitors.
With robust programming that addresses forward-looking industry developments and movements, the international appeal of the exhibition continues to grow. On the visitor front, the exhibition is seeing a healthy increase in pre-registered visitors – a 63 percent increase compared to 2017, particularly a marked surge from countries around the region such as Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, and India. In parallel, the exhibition will also play host to several international visiting delegations including the Korea Packaging Association, Myanmar Printers and Publishers Association and Vietnam Printing Association, as well as broader range of visitors coming from diverse application areas of print and packaging houses and converters, marketing, publishing and media sectors, vertical markets and those in the future technologies industry.
PACK PRINT INTERNATIONAL is modeled after the sectors’ leading trade fairs, drupa and interpack, by the Messe Düsseldorf Group in Germany. For more information on the exhibition, log on to www.pack-print.de
