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GraphExpo Show Daily September 14 2015

(continued from page 1) All Roads Lead to GRAPH EXPO 15! For attendees who come seeking to expand their sales offerings is Applications Island, the exciting show floor “oasis” of the hottest unique new print applications designed to help printers gain new customers and new print jobs. This beach themed show feature is completely created in print applications, including the display walls, which are a real and unique print application. Making its world debut also is the Industrial Printing Pavilion, featuring Future Print sponsored by FlexTech Alliance. Here, attendees can see live demonstrations of 3D printing showing how the exciting “new” worlds of Package Printing, Commercial Printing, and Industrial Manufacturing converge.The Industrial Printing Pavilion is sponsored by The Society for the Plastics Industry (SPI), producer of the large NPE show; Graphic Arts Show Company (GASC); and, CPP EXPO. Be sure to explore these popular GRAPH EXPO 15 show floor features: • The Inkjet Candy Store, sponsored by the International Sign Association (ISA), delivers live demonstrations of the newest wide format inkjet technologies. • BIG–The Wide Format Pavilion features the hottest output equipment, software, media/substrates, inks, finishing equipment and supplies, plus new applications and solutions. • Prepress/Software: Workflow & Design enables attendees to see the most exciting new software and testdrive the very latest equipment. • Press/Finishing highlights include cutting-edge innovations in inkjet, digital, offset, flexo, gravure, and hybrid print technologies, plus the most complete array of binding and finishing equipment and supplies. • Deliver–The Mailing & Fulfillment Center, sponsored (continued from page 1) by the United States Postal Service—still the world’s largest mailing show—features all the latest equipment, software & supplies, research, market data, best practices and solutions for bridging print with marketing. • The Marketing Pavilion is a “how to” hub of marketing education, resources, and networking, providing access to all the latest marketing and graphic communication tools and technologies. • News Print–The Newspaper Pavilion is a dual marketplace and networking hub for newspaper production pros and increasingly commercial printers. Sponsored by News & Tech, it features unique new applications and workflow solutions designed to help atendees cut costs, boost profits, and make informed buying decisions. • The In-Plant Place, sponsored by the In-Plant Printing and Mailing Association (IPMA), is a dedicated networking hub exclusively for in-plant pros from every industry segment to meet, unwind, learn, and share. • The Printerverse, sponsored by the Print Media Centr, is the highly interactive show floor hub to meet, tweet, learn, interact, and explore the latest innovations and applications that are driving our industry forward in exciting new directions. Look for a continuous lineup of expert panel presentations and special events throughout the show. • Education Main Street features reps from colleges, universities, and educational organizations providing information on curriculum offerings, scholarships, and talented, skilled students seeking internships. And, for the first time ever, in Booth 570, “The Hiring Hub: Closing the Skills Gap”—recreates the SkillsUSA championship challenge and supporting teamwork required by our industry to ensure a quality future workforce. GRAPH EXPO 15 show goers are also privy to a host of learning opportunities among the 13 show floor pavilions and specialty sections. Co-located CPP EXPO—The Converting and Packaging Printing Expo is no stranger to regular GRAPH EXPO attendees. A combination of seminar sessions and an extensive show floor for package printers and converters covers everything from prepress to finishing, as well as newer topics such as the use of 3D in package printing, RFID, and organic/electronic printing applications—aka “smart packaging.” There are presentations on slitting and rewinding fundamentals, as well as on using inkjet printing technologies for various types of packaging, especially food packaging. Speaking of food packaging, PROCESS EXPO—dubbed “The Global Food Equipment and Technology Show”—is owned and organized by the Food Processing Suppliers Association (FPSA), serving international suppliers in the food and beverage industries. PROCESS EXPO itself features show co-location partners InterBev Process, a trade show covering the beverage industry, and the International Dairy Show, owned and organized by the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), which features packing, processing, technology, ingredients, and distribution solutions for the global dairy industry. By all accounts, packaging is a high-growth area. One account—Smithers Pira’s The Future of Global Packaging to 2018—forecasts an average growth rate of 3.4%. Print businesses that can combine the knowledge of what digital packaging printing can do with the ability to develop creative applications that take advantage of new technologies, as well as understand the fine details and nuances unique to packaging and specific to different types of packaging, can serve as high-value partners to brand owners. Taking it to the Mat on Taxes, Trade, and Trolls impetus to spur buying decisions for at least this year and next, if not longer. Trade: NPES members, U.S. exporters, as well as American workers and consumers, scored a huge victory when President Obama signed Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) legislation into law this past July. The enactment of TPA was the culmination of a long debate and an intense final month of lobbying by pro-TPA business groups. Their numbers were bolstered by over 50 leading printing industry business executives who urged support for TPA during the PRINT’S VOICE 15 Capitol Hill Fly-In co-hosted by NPES, Printing Industries of America, and Epicomm. With 95% of the world’s consumers living outside the United States, these lobbying efforts were important in assisting U.S. manufacturers to improve their ability to effectively compete for a greater share of the $11.8 trillion global market for manufactured goods. Trolls: Patent assertion entities (PAEs), commonly referred to as “patent trolls,” abusively assert patents solely for the purpose of extracting monetary settlements from companies that have inadvertently incorporated patented technology into their products. The overriding view of the industry is that legislation should deter patent trolls from the outset in order to protect printing and supplier companies from ever becoming part of the cycle of abusive patent litigation. However, if companies do find themselves involved in extortionate legal situations, new laws should be in place to provide less costly and less burdensome defenses. There are several “patent troll” reform bills pending at this time, each of which addresses different aspects of the problem. NPES supports legislative action in this area, which is anticipated when Congress reconvenes this month, provided it appropriately balances the needs of the legitimate market for intellectual property with the need to curb “patent troll” abuses. Not to be overlooked, postal reform is also still a top government affairs priority for NPES and its allies in the printing and mailing industries. Disappointingly, no action has been taken yet in this Congress despite our strong lobbying efforts for legislative reform. Hopefully, legislation will be introduced this fall. Show Daily: What have the past two years been like at the helm of NPES, leading its member companies on the path towards the future? Michael Ring: It has been extremely rewarding to have played a role in helping NPES continue to be an active voice for our industry, though the lion’s share of the credit goes to Ralph Nappi and the rest of the NPES staff. Personally, it has been very beneficial to have the opportunities to network with other NPES members, hearing their feedback and getting a better feel for the issues affecting our industry. Though I get a sense that a lot of our members feel the future is uncertain, they are also excited and ready to take on whatever challenges we face as an industry. It helps that we have such a great organization in NPES to help support our members’ growth and the industry as a whole. Show Daily: From your perspective, what are some key industry trends? Michael Ring: The super-trend that is reshaping the graphics communications industry (in addition to other industries) is the digitalization and customization of communication. The growth of Internet-enabled digital devices and the capability to communicate with consumers and customers through many digital channels like social media has forever changed the role of both paper-based communication and packaging. But while we have heard this for quite some time, what is now happening is the practical application and use of this data. Millennials want on-demand, more personalized messaging with information that is specific to them. Over the past 10 years consumer expectations have changed dramatically, and both paper-based communication and packaging are now being incorporated into a multichannel, integrated marketing approach. One example: upload your photo via a linked QR Code and you can have your own customized labels for a six-pack of soda within days. Tharstern Appoints Industry Pioneers to THead New U.S. Operations harstern (Booth 158), a worldwide specialist in MIS for print, packaging, and labelling industries, has announced the executives to spearhead its expansion into the U.S.A. Industry entrepreneurs Bob and Susan Moore, respectively Tharstern Inc.’s new Chief Operating Officer and Vice-President of U.S. Sales, are being formally introduced during GRAPH EXPO. Bob and Susan Moore The husband and wife team founded DPI, an Atlanta-based company providing web-to-print, on-demand products and services in the B2B sector, acquired by RPI two years ago. Before their new full-time roles, the couple ran a consultancy advisory service. “From a printer and company owner perspective, I understand operations and the execution side of the business, particularly software, having built one of the world’s first automated workflows,” says Bob Moore. “Tharstern without doubt has one of the best products of any sort I have ever seen. “Even though people understand that providing efficiencies and information in a ready-to-access format is king, there’s a lot of frustration in the marketplace at the moment,” he continues. “Tharstern’s MIS will plug the hole and I’m sure we will take the U.S. market by storm.” Adds Susan Moore, “We’ll look forward to meeting up with many prospects at GRAPH EXPO. We’ll be looking to understand the challenges faced by customers so that Tharstern can provide tools to their teams to bring efficiencies, savings, and more profitability to their business.” Lee Ward, Global Sales Director for Tharstern, comments, “These two new appointments are a crucial part of our expansion strategy into the U.S. market. Tharstern has been a pioneer in the journey towards JDF and a leading expert in workflow integration. We’ve established tight integration with other market-leaders, and are looking forward to improving profitability for U.S. businesses.” The new U.S. team also includes Pre-Sales Consultant Jennifer Johnson, Tharstern Managing Director Keith McMurtrie, and Lee Ward. Tharstern, which underwent a management buyout in July 2014, is celebrating its most successful year ever. 62 September 14, 2015 | GRAPH EXPO Official Show Daily | PrintingNews.com


GraphExpo Show Daily September 14 2015
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