“It started as a low-cost level playing field with 12sqm shell schemes and that really worked in the beginning,” says event director Alison Church. “However, if we still ran the show like that it wouldn’t be as successful.”

As the event has grown it’s also expanded the sectors it covers, and so, in an attempt to make it easier to navigate, it is now divided into three linked shows: Packaging Innovations, Label & Print and Empack. The different areas are zoned for identification, but there are no barriers between them.

Packaging Innovations itself is focused on the materials and the design of the packaging. For PrintWeek readers it is likely that Label & Print is the most relevant of the three shows given its focus on printing technology, techniques and materials from both the providers of those and printers and converters utilising them. Empack is packing and packaging manufacturing – the heavy end of the industry, pallets, palletising, wrapping and logistics.

There are also two additional zones: EcoPack focused on sustainability, and Contract Pack, which Church says is “the place to go for anyone looking for partners to outsource some aspect of their packaging supply chain”. 

Easyfairs has changed some of the show features this year. One example is the introduction of Ask the Expert, which has replaced the Big Packaging Debate. 

“The aim is to encourage more interaction and encourage the visitors to get more involved,” says Church. “We want people to submit questions in advance, but there will also be an opportunity to ask questions live from the floor.”

On 25 February, Ask The Experts will be chaired by Marks & Spencer packaging technologist Kevin Vyse and address branding and FMCG packaging questions.

One returning feature that addresses visitors’ deeper questions is the Packaging Consultancy Clinic. This is a series of pre-booked 15-minute slots with experts from The Packaging Society covering a range of different topics. 

There are also two new symposia – three-hour programmes of back-to-back seminars – that follow on from the beauty and retail symposia debuted at the London event last September. 

“This time we will cover pharma, and drinks,” says Church. “The needs of a pharma packaging manager are very different for instance to an FMCG packaging manager. Specific pharma challenges include compliance, security, information and anti-counterfeiting.”

Ask The Experts and the new symposia are part of the Learnshops series of seminars, which is held across the two days of the event in several theatres on the show floor. In addition to the International Brand Summit theatre there are the Label & Print theatre, The EcoPack theatre, The Packaging News theatre and the Packaging Innovations theatre. 

Personal touch

While the Big Packaging Debate is no more, the Big Print Debate will run again this year. It will focus on what is one of the key topics at the moment – personalisation. The title of the debate is ‘As personalisation increasingly becomes the norm will its greatest impact be on the shelf or in the home?’

“It will be interesting to hear what the experts have to say and whether they think the biggest impact will be at home or on shelf in-store, and if it becomes normal does it lose its impact,” says Church. “The obvious example is ‘Share a Coke’. People still want to properly understand just what is possible. In particular is it possible for smaller companies?” 

The panel, which is chaired by journalist Des King, includes Lynn Harris, account manager digital, at packaging design agency JKR; Nancy Janes, HP graphics solutions business programme director and Antoinette Devine, global packaging & materials consultant, for brewer SABMiller.

In addition to hearing a debate about personalisation visitors will be able to produce their own personalised packaging, a key feature of the Label & Print show. 

“The Xeikon packaging personalisation feature enables people to learn more about digital print,” says Church. “You personalise your pack in advance on our website, and then pick it up at the show.

Behind the scenes Xeikon, in collaboration with Chili-Publish and Zünd, is producing personalised packs of construction toy Clics for visitors. To create a pack, visitors can either follow the link on the show’s website, or go directly to www.chili-publish.com/packaginginnovations. On that site the Chili-Publish web editor enables users to choose the style and colour of the pack, and to add their own message and image to further customise it. The packs are then printed on a Xeikon 3000 and can be collected at the show. 

Not everyone is convinced that personalisation is necessarily the future, at least not for the vast majority of the market. 

“The most interest we have is in improving efficiencies and producing shorter runs rather than personalisation,” says Graham Leeson, Fujifilm Europe head of communications, graphic arts. “I don’t feel that it’s really about personalisation. It’s a bit of a gimmick at the moment.”

“It’s about personalising the service rather than the package”, says Glossop Cartons sales director Jacky Sidebottom-Every.

In addition to its core offerings of digital prototyping and the award winning results of its Highcon Euclid digital cutter, Glossop will be highlighting the impact the materials used make with a range of cartons produced using bright and deeply coloured boards from Fedrigoni.

Another hot topic is 3D printing, which is once again a feature of the show courtesy of 3D printer dealer Laserlines. 

“3D printing is becoming an increasingly important tool for prototyping packaging designs and shortening the lead times,” says Church. 

Which may be true, but as she admits is more relevant for brands and agencies rather than printers and convertors. 

One example, which sits somewhere between digital printing and 3D printing, is direct printing onto 3D objects for prototype and personalised one-off production. Mimaki dealer I-Sub will be showing the nifty Kebab option for Mimaki’s UJF-3042HG or UJF-6042 A3 and A2 format UV-cured printers, which can image cylindrical objects up to 330mm in length and between 10mm and 110mm in diameter. Objects that can be printed include wine bottles, candles, and water flasks. I-Sub will also be showing its Digi-Foil system, which is another add-on for the Mimaki mini flatbeds that enables a range of finishes, including foiling and embossing, for samples and short runs.

“The Digi-Foil and Kebab systems always attract a ‘wow’ from visitors,” says I-Sub Digital Director Andy Spreag. “Being able to see such high-quality results so quickly tends to spark people’s imaginations and get them thinking about what else they can produce.”

Another sample-making machine on show will be Fujifilm’s Acuity 1600 LED printer, which with its UV ink including white and varnish is capable of producing very accurate mock-ups and samples onto the actual materials used for label and carton production.

“The Acuity 1600 has really found its niche in the prototyping market,” says Leeson. “Up until now prototyping has often been a slightly ham-fisted process involving cutting up proofs and sticking them onto board.”

While Fujifilm will be showing the Acuity, and FFEI with whom it’s sharing a stand will be showing the Graphium label press, it won’t have any of its bigger presses running. It’s not alone in that and unlike printing trade shows the approach taken by exhibitors at Packaging Innovations is focused more on what you can do with the kit rather than the kit itself. 

HP’s stand will, like last year, be a supermarket acting as showcase for examples of live jobs produced by HP customers. It will include more products produced on the firm’s bigger Indigos, the 20000 and 30000, and to a lesser extent the 10000. 

“Last year we had some samples from the 20000 and 30000, but as the project has moved on this year we will be able to go more in depth,” says HP UK & Ireland marketing manager Oana Manolache. 

Wide-format focus

One development common to both HP and Fuji this year is an increased focus on their wide-format production kit and where that fits into the increased digitisation of the packaging supply chain.

For HP that means showing the output from its HP Scitex wide-format portfolio.

“If you show a digitally printed supermarket then you have to have POS,” says Manolache. 

“Our focus will be on the applications,” says Fuji’s Leeson. “The main difference this year is that we’ll be talking about corrugated production using the Inca Onset. While it’s true that at the moment it’s more relevant to POS than transit packaging there is a lot of interest from the packaging printers, so we’ll be talking about corrugated and POS and why inkjet is interesting in those areas.”

The firm will also be talking more generally about the wider impact inkjet will have on the packaging sector in the future. 

“For us it’s about talking about the potential of inkjet as a technology,” says Leeson. 

With the future in mind and the show celebrating its first decade, how does Church picture the event in 10 years’ time? 

“We can’t predict how the market will evolve and what it will need, yet,” she says. “We will continue to adapt and to deliver what the market tells us it needs.” 

She has some ideas on what might be on the horizon including augmented reality, printed electronics and the opportunity to embed additional features into the pack. 

Most importantly she believes packaging will remain an important market for print: “There’s so much that the print industry can offer packaging – it’s a massive opportunity.” 

SEMINAR PROGRAMME

International Brand Summit theatre

Wednesday 25 February

10.30-11.00 Investing in future packaging talent, Mondelez

11.30-12.00 Packaging rationalisation for different markets, GÜ Puds

12.30-13.00 The evolution of the online offer at John Lewis

14.45-16.00 Ask The Experts, chaired by Kevin Vyse, Marks & Spencer

Thursday 26 February

10.45-12.45 The Drinks Symposium, featuring: The Lakes Distillery, Diageo and Glenfiddich

13.15-13.45 Packaging safety and compliance, challenges for the food industry, Nestlé

14.15-15.15 Lions’ Lair

Packaging Innovations theatre

Wednesday 25 February

11.45-12.15 Making brands that sell – designing great packaging, Smith Lumen

12.45-13.15 Creating engaging customer experiences through activating packaging, Blippar

13.45-14.15 Slidissime: A revolution in airless technology, Promens

14.30-15.00 Bioplastics in consumer goods Packaging, Neil Farmer Associates

Thursday 26 February 

10.30-11.00 Slidissime: A revolution in airless technology, Promens

11.45-12.15 Cross sector innovation-how can you adapt for success

12.30-14.30 The Retail Symposium 

Packaging News theatre

Wednesday 25 February

11.00-11.30 A snapshot of the packaging industry, Packaging News

12.00-12.30 It’s not what you say, but the way that you say it, Marketing Sciences

14.00-14.30 Can you change how the public view packaging? Hubbub

Thursday 26 February 

12.00-12.30 Creating the right innovation, 2 Sisters Food Group

13.00-13.30 Consumer centric packaging: Key principles to win in-store, Perception Research Services

15.00-15.30 Innovation in action- highlights from the UK Packaging Awards 2014

Ecopack theatre

Wednesday 25 February

11.15-11.45 Innovation in sustainable food service packaging, Foodservice Packaging Association

12.15-12.45 Circular economy makes sense – the rise and rise of Polypropylene, Milliken and Boomerang Plastics

14.15-15.15 Ecopack Challenge, supported by M&S

Thursday 26 February 

11.15-11.45 Using biopolymer to its best advantage, Plantic

12.15-12.45 How more plastic packaging is being recycled, and how you can help, Recoup

13.15-13.45 Packaging in a sustainable future, Dragon Rouge

14.15-14.45 From A to E-profiting from sustainable thinking in a web-retail world, Marks and Spencer

Label & Print theatre

Wednesday 25 February

11.00-13.30 The Pharmaceutical Symposium

14.20-14.50 Digital printing-a part of the jigsaw

Thursday 26 February 

10.30-11.00 Panel discussion: Flexo and/or digital: competing or complementary?

11.30-12.30 The BIG Print Debate ‘As personalisation increasingly becomes the norm will its greatest impact be on the shelf or in the home?’

Packaging Consultancy Clinic

Sessions on subjects including Anti-counterfeiting, sustainability, technology and training will run every hour from 10am until the show closes on both days, for more information visit stand M30

BPIF Cartons’ Chatroom

The industry body will host a private meeting room where visitors can book 30-minute sessions with a wide-range of carton experts, for more information visit stand K15

Plastics and Packaging Recycling Clinic

Recoup will be hosting one-to-one sessions on understanding and

implementing recyclability and recycled content into plastic packaging, for more information visit stand E29