Let me sum up Fespa 2010, the recently concluded Federation of Europe Screen Printing Association’s bi-annual show by saying this…if you do not ever go to another show save your money and experience FESPA just once during your screen printing lifetime. They do a lot of smaller shows and every three years they do a huge show. The next smaller show is in Hamburg in May of 2011. It is a digital show but they will be having FespaFabric which will feature all types of garment decorating.

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to be asked by Mark Vasilantone to work for 5 days at FESPA with the staff of Vastex International. And, it was five very busy days as customers filled the booth looking at equipment from start to finish.  I heard similar comments from other exhibitors about the traffic and also witnessed boothfuls of people gathering information on the latest trends.   This is truly an international show and it’s a pleasure to be able to talk to people from all over the world and get their perspective on the state of what is truly a global industry.

Attendees were treated to a first class educational program as Fresener’s Fabric (familiar name?) coordinated the efforts for the FESPA organizers.  The seminar I delivered on Discharge Printing was packed with the audience asking a myriad of questions both during and after the seminar.  For over 30 years Scott Fresener’s name as been associated with “education” thus putting hundreds and hundreds of printers into business and his organization of Fresener’s Fabric  proves why any organization is crazy for not utilizing his talents.

The floor or the hall was top notch with many large exhibitors having stands that took days to custom build.  Also, a little different from our shows in the USA is that most booths had bars set up to entertain clients at the end of the day.  For those who are not aware the World Cup Soccer Tournament being held from South Africa was being held during the dates of FESPA and many exhibitors had large screen televisions in their booths so attendees could watch and cheer on their favorite teams.  As a matter of fact in the booth adjacent to Vastex a Brazilian company practically shut down their booth one afternoon when Brazil played Portugal in one of the late games. And, if you find this hard to believe see the attached picture I took of the stand during the match.

Last but not least you get to experience the beauty of  major European city.  Munich is famous for their restaurants and night life and many attendees and exhibitors were found at any of the many local beer gardens around the city.

I am sorry if you missed it….it was a great time! I’ll see you in Hamburg, or better yet – if you can wait – at Fespa 2013 in London!

Written by Jeff Proctor – http://t-biznetwork.com/category/blogs/jeff-proctor-blog/

FESPA 2010 was a reassuring moment of motivation for an industry which has undergone a wide range of subjective and objective questioning since the financial markets were plunged into cold water. Processes, suitability for purpose, variety of applications, the environmental challenge and the lack of young people in the industry are all subjects that need addressing, and FESPA’s mixture of debates, presentations, summits and seminars seemed purposed to do just that.

What FESPA does well, though, is to manage its size properly. The nature of a trade exhibition is that you never end up seeing all the people you wished to, nor all the new products, or indeed attending the horizon-expanding symposia on offer. If you stay for the duration there is easily enough to entertain you throughout, while single-day visitors will have time to reach all the companies they need to see, as well as dip into less familiar territories. The layout of the Munich Messe helped no end with its sensible structure and good facilities, as did easy access to both the airport and the city centre.

2010 was my first edition of the show without any particular agenda. Usually, as an industry editor, there is a long list of stakeholders to see and tick off and, inevitably, a couple of them are always left out. This time, though, my duties were split between gathering resources for my own freelance activities and Line 12’s PR clients, all of whom reported an exciting show with plenty of lead generation.

Curiously, though, I don’t feel that I saw anything particularly new (perhaps due to dashing around and being less observant than usual), but instead witnessed a market vibrant with optimism. Ipex set the tone, in a way, with many commercial printers making early signs of wanting to adopt wide-format kit in order to penetrate various advertising and display markets. Whether or not these converted into visitors at FESPA, the industry seemed stable and committed to adapting, and FESPA provided both the platform and the inspiration for that to happen.

It is difficult to populate peripheral activities but the debates, talks and discussions were well attended and not just by the same old faces, but visitors whose primary interest was in screen-printing or garment production who wanted to access new markets. I think this is the fortuitous and concluding point of my FESPA experience: accessing vertical markets and the need to innovate. This latter point was identified by the FESPA team some time ago and served as a strong banner under which to hold the show, but there was a genuine sense of profitability and thinking outside the box which can only stand the industry in good stead.

Written by James Matthews-Paul (read more of his articles here…www.display-talk.com)

FESPA 2010 delivered success against high level of expectation for all community stakeholders

FESPA 2010 was a great success by any measure, mirroring the characteristics of a fast, robust, and radically transforming marketplace. Albeit a market that is still in recovery and must embrace innovation in order to continue to thrive.

A regular, market-leading international event of the calibre and reach of FESPA gives us a window to the key trends in the market. In fact, FESPA 2010 brought the market to life over a five-day period. So what kind of FESPA 2010 did we all experience? And what does it tell us?

The true barometer of success of any event is the feedback from exhibitors and visitors, the tone and optimism of the event and the sense that it has delivered a high quality experience. By those measures, FESPA 2010 has been outstanding. The show’s success clearly proves the robustness of our community and the positive outlook that prevails whatever the external economic conditions. Many have said – and I’m inclined to agree with them – that it was the best FESPA yet.

Exhibitors

In terms of space taken by exhibitors, FESPA 2010 was on a par with FESPA 2007. This is a clear benchmark by which to measure the strength of this sector of the print market. Consider that, according to InfoTrends, over the past 12 to 18 months we have seen a contraction in the wide format marketplace of around 15% worldwide. This is no surprise, considering the news that has dominated both trade and consumer media over the past 12 months. Corporate casualties, consolidation, business failures, drastic restrictions on credit, and widespread redundancies. Our community, like so many others, now has fewer businesses and employees than it did prior to the downturn. This recession has been the most brutal in living memory. Against this backdrop, for FESPA 2010 to maintain its footprint compared to 2007 is impressive. To achieve the largest ever showcase of digital wide format printing is amazing.

Visitors

In light of the economic challenges, a look at the FESPA 2010 attendance data is interesting, and attendance is an important metric. When you run a show as large and as important as FESPA 2010, you need to attract a critical mass of attendees to satisfy the needs and expectations of your exhibitors. Total attendance at FESPA 2010 was 21,672 individual visitors, an increase of 6.5% on FESPA 2005 in the same venue, but a decrease of around 10% on FESPA 2007 in Berlin. Why? Economic confidence was at its peak in 2007. The market was ‘plain sailing’ and arguably the digital curve was at its steepest incline. Industry experts tell me that digital is now in a state of incremental innovation. Consequently, investment levels – while returning – are not going to return to those of 2007 for a while yet. But the show, and the thousands of people it attracted, demonstrated the enthusiasm, resilience and connectivity of a community that is passionate about its role in the media landscape.

Looking at the visitor statistics, we see that visiting companies sent fewer employees than in 2007, and fewer people made more than one visit to the show. In ultra-competitive conditions, this is a logical trend. With more pressure on people’s time, money, energy and attention, it was perhaps inevitable that there would be less ‘browsing’ at FESPA 2010. Exhibitors reported meeting senior level business people who had a very defined and focused schedule at the show. This makes perfect sense – behavioural changes in business are evident at exhibitions too! We also found that, when compared with 2007, despite the fact the show was not smaller – and indeed, many individual exhibitors had significantly bigger stands – exhibitors brought fewer exhibiting personnel, focussing on cost reduction and efficiency.

Did we ‘Catch the Wave of Innovation’?

True market trends will take some time to evaluate post FESPA, but in the immediate aftermath of a show, it is possible to draw out themes and observations from the show floor and from the conversations and opinions that you hear. During our ‘Catch the New Wave of Innovation’ campaign for FESPA 2010, we used the analogy of a storm subsiding and a different trading environment emerging. We championed the ‘innovation approach’, not just because this is a driver for visitors coming to a show, but because we know it’s absolutely essential in order for printers to grow in the future. Businesses cannot grow just by minimising waste and reducing cost. At the show and throughout the campaign we demonstrated how a ‘total approach to innovation’ will generate economic growth. I think most people understood, agreed and embraced this theme, and the ‘surfie’ graphics and features around the event certainly added something to the festival atmosphere that people love about FESPA.

FESPA Digital

At FESPA 2010 we saw three packed halls of digital inkjet hardware, software, consumables and substrates. In its own right, this area represented the largest ever FESPA Digital show, matched by record levels of visitor interest in digital technologies, up from 52% in 2007 to 68% this year. When compared to FESPA in 2005, in the same city and venue, we can see clearly how the marketplace has changed. Back in 2005, the ‘digital inkjet innovation curve’ was still steep. Digital inkjet was starting to have a noticeable impact on the dominance of screen printing at that time. But screen printing did still dominate, filling two out of four halls at Messe Munich in 2005, with digital only occupying one hall. In 2010, we witnessed one hall of screen printing products for sign and graphics, and three entire halls of digital. The transformation of the market is complete. Screen has become a specialist process and digital has assumed process leadership, at least in terms of sign and graphic production.

It is hardly news that digital has taken over – but the show did offer a graphic (pardon the pun) illustration of this tectonic shift. The imaging market is undoubtedly now led by digital, and the visitor numbers suggest that the market sees FESPA shows as the most effective way to fully understand those changes, and the opportunities and solutions that are available to them.

FESPA Screen

FESPA 2010 was far from being just a Digital show. The Screen halls were still positive and busy, proving that screen printing’s contraction has likely reached a plateau, and its niche position as a printing process is secure. Screen still dominates industrial and speciality processes and, despite the relentless push from digital technology vendors, and the introduction of metallic inks for digital – I think we can say confidently that screen printing does have a future. Digital is only making small inroads into speciality and industrial processes, and screen printing is still the industrial manufacturers’ process of choice in many areas. Given the relentless push of digital innovation, once this gains momentum it is possible it will gain market share. I did see some great industrial applications of digital, but it is further behind than graphic production and still has some way to go to outperform screen. It was gratifying to see a busy screen hall and great to hear positive feedback from screen exhibitors.

FESPA Fabric

FESPA Fabric was also a great success – garment decoration is a fashionable and creative community, and it was great for us to develop an ‘event within an event’ that truly benefited from some of the features within it. Fresener’s Fabric pulled in many visitors, with most sessions full to the brim. Charlie Taublieb again inspired people with his unique approach to textile printing, and the Fabric Live! Fashion Show wowed visitors with a glamorous and arresting show that delivered increased brand awareness for our sponsors. Whereas screen printing for the sign and graphic community contracted significantly since the 2005 FESPA show, the Fabric hall actually grew its footprint slightly compared with 2005, reflecting the dominance of screen in garment printing. Both the Screen and Fabric halls proved that innovation isn’t confined only to digital. Screen printing may be a more specialist process but there is still sufficient demand to sustain an exhibition in Europe.

Timson’s Top-Line Trends!

So how did FESPA 2010 differ from 2005 and 2007? From the perspective of the show organiser, apart from the maturity of digital, I also see more focus and desire to understand and invest in management and workflow software. Software vendors have a strong case now to facilitate lean production, enhancing profit margins and improving efficiency. This was noticeable at the show, and clearly an educational process is taking place to give print businesses the ability to compete and improve productivity.

Variable data also came to the fore at FESPA 2010 – personalised messaging has been possible for some time but, perhaps due to market forces, the need for personalisation is now provoking a response from print service providers, who are now looking at how they can add and implement (and profit from) variable data capabilities in a wide format service business.

We also saw some signs of convergence with narrow format print technologies at the show, with EFI showing their Jetrion and Atlantic Zeiser also exhibiting. We would anticipate growth in this area for FESPA Digital 2011 in Hamburg, with more digital technology in smaller format. Research indicates that print service providers are now most certainly open to technologies that fall beyond the more traditional definitions of a screen printing business.

Lastly I think we saw the greatest ever live showcase of innovative print applications, particularly in the digital halls. The HP stand itself was a highly effective showcase of the creative potential of technology. This is a notable trend also promoted proactively by other vendors such as Durst, EFI and Roland. We know from the FESPA Economy Surveys 1 and 2 that the market has responded to adverse conditions by creating new niches. The creative potential of new applications has enabled print service providers to generate business while continuing to meet the extreme demands of customers. The importance of output speed and productivity has intensified, but printers also recognise that printing alone isn’t enough. According to the Economy Survey 2, over 70% of the market has responded to adverse market conditions by engaging innovation. This was clearly the motivation for the majority of people exhibiting and visiting at FESPA.

So what now?

The success of FESPA 2010 would seem to bear out industry barometers telling us that the economy has now stabilised. The contraction of our market is slowing, optimism has – broadly speaking – returned. But the market is not going to return to its peak of 2007 for some time, if ever. The market we all now inhabit is a less forgiving place and this will continue to challenge our businesses. Our collective confidence has been dented by two or more relentlessly tough years, and we are living in a Darwinian environment. The leaner, quicker, more flexible and proactive businesses will survive; the slow and the weak will struggle.

To survive and prosper, printers have to focus on actions that deliver impact. We need to integrate the key characteristics of a successful innovative business in order to thrive in this post recessionary market that is, arguably, in ‘recovery’. The response from exhibitors and visitors to FESPA 2010 is proof of our community’s willingness to evolve and move with change, and to commit time and resources to plan a positive future.

For me, FESPA 2010 caught a new wave of optimism that is sweeping the market, proving that innovation is driving our market once again!

P.S. I also want to take an opportunity to say how superb the FESPA 2010 show team were. They rose to an enormous challenge from a sales, marketing and operational standpoint. The expectations of exhibitors, visitors, industry commentators, member associations and the FESPA board were – rightly – high. The team performed brilliantly and without their enthusiasm and professionalism, the show would not have been the great success it was. Thank you!