Leading label and print suppliers will feature heavily on the event floor, as guests are provided with the opportunity to discover the latest innovations and create new industry connections across the entire packaging spectrum.
Thermal Printer Support will highlight its new range of Thermal Transfer Overprinters, designed to print a range of data onto flexible film packaging. The items feature a ‘quick change’ cassette and are accurate to the nearest 0.1mm. This allows manufacturers to achieve printing up to 40m/300 products a minute.
The Label Makers will display its wide range of sustainable label solutions, including those for recyclable bottles. The bespoke service is aimed at delivering the strongest on-pack message, to ensure maximum shelf stand-out.
Epson will reveal its ColorWorks C4000E Label Printer for the first time, giving users a compact, high quality, full colour, on-demand solution. The C4000E incorporates a large LCD display panel to make operation simple, and is available for ESC Label, Linux, and Mac OS. It comes with either a gloss or matte black ink to create crisp, sharp, black text and rich images on a range of media. The individual, large 50cl pigment ink cartridges create fast-drying, highly detailed labels that are smudge, water, and fade resistant.
Martek Industries will display its Bentsai B80 and B85 handheld inkjet printers. The products combine high-definition printing with 100mm wide format design to allow portable printing of text, barcodes, 2D codes, and detailed graphics onto porous and non-porous surfaces. Bentsai printers offer the possibility to brand cardboard boxes, wooden shipping crates, plastic bags, and many other products on-demand. The touchscreen interface allows custom artwork to be quickly uploaded and stored on the printer.
Screen Europe will highlight its Truepress PAC830F – a water-based inkjet digital printing press for sustainable flexible packaging films such as PET and BOPP. The printing press can handle substrates of up to 830mm wide at industry-leading speeds of up to 75m/min, enabling flexible packaging converters to meet demand for shorter lead times. The technology also integrates the latest generation of printheads with a print resolution of 1200dpi, using CMYK and white water-based inks that conform to relevant food safety regulations. These features allow the PAC830F to deliver a range of colour expressions important for the food packaging industry.
Alongside a busy exhibition floor, Packaging Innovations and Empack 2022 will host an industry-led seminar programme across three stages, addressing the industry’s hottest topics. The Empack Technology stage will feature sessions aimed at the manufacturing, processing, and logistics sectors. Seminars will cover a range of exciting and innovative subjects, including robotics, energy efficiency, and e-fulfilment.
The Innovation and Design and Ecopack stages will dissect the latest industry news affecting packaging designers, agencies, and technologists, providing visitors with the opportunity to hear from an array of leading experts and brand owners on the latest advice and predictions for 2022. The show’s headline feature, The Big Debate, will tackle the latest packaging regulations.
Discussions will centre around how new government legislation will impact the industry, whether the new laws will deliver the change promised, and how packaging professionals can best react.
In association with OPRL, The Ecopack Challenge calls for industry professionals to prioritise ‘green’ design, by creating an all-new sustainable packaging product. The interactive Dragons’ Den-style session will see innovators hoping to be crowned best-in-show pitching their products to a
panel of judges including Ocado, Pret A Manger, OPRL, and The Pack Hub. Elsewhere, 12 exhibitors will compete for the title of ‘Most Innovative Pack’, as the Innovation Showcase returns.
This interactive area of the event allows visitors to get up close to some of the most innovative packaging on the market and vote for their favourite. The winner will be announced live on the event floor.
Renan Joel, Easyfairs’ divisional director, concluded, ‘We have a fantastic variety of label and print exhibitors at this year’s event, and we can’t wait for our visitors to get up close with the latest cutting-edge tech the market has to offer. Our expert-led seminar programme will provide actionable advice for everyone in the audience, whilst we will help our guests progress their latest packaging projects. See you all in May!’
