Labelexpo Asia 2011 Reaches New Heights

Labelexpo Asia 2011, which was held between 29 November and 2 December in Shanghai, has proved to be the most successful year in the show’s history. The show exceeded all previous statistics in attendee and exhibitor numbers and many senior executives visited, confirming the importance of the event and the market in Asia.

In total, 18,019 top level visitors attended this year’s show – an increase of nine per cent over 2009’s show. Labelexpo Asia also boasted 270 exhibitors (up by 21% on 2009) and attracted the highest level of space rebooking for 2013 as exhibitors enjoyed high levels of onsite sales of machinery and materials.

Again proving to be a major vehicle for new product launches, the Labelexpo Asia showfloor was packed with new press demonstrations. Omet demonstrated a Flexy 330 press, while Xeikon’s new high capacity and speed 3030 digital label press and UPM Raflatac’s PP White TC 60 RH 9 ProLiner PP30 were also shown. HP and Kama also showed for the first time the digital printing and converting of cartons.

The continent’s largest dedicated show also reported a huge increase in demand for delegate places at its conference program. With speakers including Jouko Lähepelto, senior vice president, Americas and Asia Pacific at UPM Raflatac and Dean Scarborough, chairman of Avery Dennison Corporation, who gave a ground breaking interactive presentation.  Sessions were packed as key industry trends were examined, technologies debated and best practice customer case studies shared.

Roger Pellow, Labelexpo managing director comments: “We would like to thank everyone involved with Labelexpo Asia for their support and contribution in making 2011’s show the greatest yet. Not only has the show matured, it has grown to a new level where it is attracting top level executives and decision makers to do business on site; underlining its value as the leading platform to do business, network and see the latest technology.

"Interestingly this year, we are seeing Chinese manufacturers increasingly look at opportunities outside of the domestic Chinese market as we’ve taken exhibitor bookings for our other major international shows. In addition, the environment and digital printing technology is of growing interest on their business agenda. The marketplace is becoming ever more competitive and the Asian label industry is sure to challenge the market share dominance of Western Europe and Northern America sooner than predicted.”

He continues: “This year we also supported two children’s charities: MOWO (funds for schooling in the mountainous regions of China), and Hope for Children (funding for children in Africa) with a raffle draw at the exhibitor party. Raising a staggering £2,000 for the charities to split, Labelexpo Asia would like to thank all those who supported these two worthwhile causes.”

Quotes from exhibitors and visitors at Labelexpo Asia 2011:

David Jones, Alpahasonics: “This was the fifth Labelexpo Asia we’ve exhibited at and it’s fair to say that at each event we’ve seen a steady increase in the number of serious potential customers. The ‘tyre kickers’ are gone for sure. The Chinese printers are without doubt becoming more sophisticated in their equipment requirements, so as to be able to deliver good, consistently high quality labels to an increasingly discerning market. There will always be locally produced ancillary equipment on offer in China, but through continual innovation at exposure at events such as Labelexpo, we’re seeing without doubt a growing awareness of the products that we offer with the higher end label producer, who realize that buying the best helps to keep him ahead of the competition, even if you have a locally made press. Without doubt we’ll be going back in 2013.”

Georges Gravanis, Avery Dennison:  “Avery Dennison conveyed a very clear industry leader image with focus on customers, end user segments, innovation and sustainability in this year’s Labelexpo Asia. Our stand and activities were very informative, innovation driven and more importantly, they showed the energy and passion of our people. We could feel our customers, end-users and partners who visited the show were very positive about our offerings.”

Peter Kloppers, DG press ServiceS: “DGpS is very pleased to announce a highly promising launch of the Vision SP in the Asian markets. We want to thank show visitors for their interest in our machines and for the interesting dialogue at Labelexpo Asia.”

Vicki Yan, Dow Corning: “Dow Corning sponsors each global Labelexpo in Europe, Chicago, India and Asia. We value this event as an industry focused and good platform for the label and printing industry. Labelexpo Asia 2011 was a successful show, which gathered the full value chain of customers and suppliers. We exchange ideas and look forward to future co-operation together. As a global leader in the pressure sensitive market, Dow Corning will continue to participate in this event and hopes to generate more prospects in Asia.”
 
Angela Jin Zhou, Dupont: “At Labelexpo Asia 2011 we launched our latest flexographic printing technologies, and our brand new exposure machine which drew much attention from visitors.”

Dongguan Zhongqi Machine Co. Ltd: “We sold five machines at Labelexpo Asia. It was a successful exhibition - thank you very much!”

Christian Menegon, Hewlett-Packard Indigo: “Labelexpo Asia 2011 showed an increased interest for digital printing. No questions on the quality, no questions on the performance, but interest in functionalities. This indicates a certain level of understanding and the adoption of digital printing in China. The various security functions raised a high level of interest as well as the environment impact of an Indigo press. The number of visitors went up significantly and the number of presses we sold proves that China sees our solutions as fitting their actual and upcoming needs. Many new Chinese exhibitors prove the labels market is of an increasing importance in this economy, and digital printing will for sure play an increasing role.”

David Chen, King Label Adhesive Products Co: “Through attending Labelexpo Asia 2011, we had very successful and satisfying responses. This year we presented patent techniques: embossed plastic label series and wash off beer label materials; newly-developed label materials for electronic application. Also our unique stand design stood out in show, its cellar design impressed not only potential leads, but also brought brand new experiences to our existing clients.”

Lintec Corporation: “At Labelexpo Asia there were many visitors who were interested in our intermittent letter-press-printing machine. We collected over 500 business cards from buyers from all over the world. Lots of them, whether they knew of us before, were interested in our pressure-sensitive-adhesive products. We also got the potential leads five presses. This is a great and successful tradeshow.”

Joe Zhou, Omet: “The exhibition was well organized and our expectations were met and we got to know more potential clients. The machine we exhibited has been ordered and sold during the exhibition.”

Roberto Galbiati, Re S.p.a. Controlli Industrial: “Labelexpo Asia has again been a great experience for us and, we received known and unknown customers and collected more than 100 leads. It was interesting to see how many new machine builders are coming up, and how the label market needs to be developed for the opportunities the Chinese market can offer.”

Tom Kerchiss, RK Print Coat Instruments Ltd: “Another great Labelexpo Asia show, well attended, with a good cross section of visitors from across Asia, not just China. Thank you for the excellent organization.”

Shenzhen Minrui Adhesive Products Co. Ltd: “The visitors at Labelexpo Asia are all professionals, and are also of high quality.”

Chuanren Luo, SUNFLY printing machinery: “Our machine received much attention and we received many enquiries and feedback from visitors from all over the world. Thanks to the Labelexpo Asia team.”

Jukka-Pekka Haapanen, UPM Raflatac: “Once again, we were delighted to see how the label industry in Asia is going forward with a strong commitment on quality, service and performance. We experienced a very dynamic and forward-looking atmosphere at Labelexpo Asia and it’s easy to see that together we can achieve great things on this fast growing market area. We are certainly taking the label to the limit!”

Filip Weymans, Xeikon: “It’s the third time Xeikon has attended Labelexpo Asia and we have seen how it has grown; becoming the main label show for Asia Pacific. Despite Labelexpo Europe being held earlier this year, there was a great amount of high quality visitors. Clearly Asia Pacific printers are facing the same challenges as elsewhere so digital was getting good attention.”

Spring Xu, ZheJiang WeiGang Machinery Co. Ltd: “Our domestic markets were strong and this was very well complemented by the international market at Labelexpo Asia.”