InPrint 2016 to be held in Milan following Italian demand

InPrint organisers FM Brooks have reacted to demand for a dedicated forum for industrial print technology in Italy by announcing that InPrint 2016 will take place in Milan.

The show will take place at MiCo Milano Congressi, located close to Milan city centre, from 9-11 November 2016. It follows the successful launch of the first InPrint show in Germany last year.

Event organisers said the Italian show launch signals increased confidence in the future expansion of the industrial print technology sector.

The move follows a meeting in Italy three months ago between show organisers and over 20 key exhibitor companies that aimed to drive forward industrial print development across Europe.

Representatives from Ricoh, Konica Minolta, Kuei, Reggiani, JetSet, J-Teck3, Mimaki, Inx Digital and Sensient among others agreed that the launch of InPrint in Italy would be a logical addition to the German show.

“Milan is a major manufacturing centre and the show is an event for industrial print technology so it’s much more focused on the manufacturing community than traditional print companies. The northern area of Italy is a real leader in terms of decorative industrial print applications,” said InPrint co-director Marcus Timson.

“It’s a nice complement to the German show and we will quite possibly look to alternate the shows between locations each year. That would be logical principally because of the different focuses in the different locations and the different exhibitor base and visitor base. But ultimately it will still focus on the same subject: industrial print production.

“We expect the Italian event to show some of what Italy is really famed for, which is design and decor in industrial production. There will be a number of exhibitors that we gain for the Milan event that wouldn’t perhaps do the German one and I think textiles will play an interesting role in the Italian show.

“There is no doubt that this innovative region will benefit from hosting the InPrint show as it will create new potential by connecting elements of the industrial print supply chain who are likely to have never met before.”

InPrint co-director Frazer Chesterman added: “We are very proud to be running the third edition of InPrint in Italy as this country is a world leader in design and decoration.

“This show enables us to focus upon developments in key sectors such as digital textile printing for apparel, interiors and technical textile as well as surface imaging onto home decor and furnishing applications such as wood, plastics, ceramics, glass, metal, packaging and other functional applications.”

Inx Digital European director Paolo Capano said: “As the Italy-based branch of the global Sakata Inx group, we know how important it is to combine local skills and global expertise to achieve the excellence in regards to inkjet products. This is even more important when it comes to industrial printing.

“Even with a prevalence of small and medium-sized enterprises, Italy can boast highly specialised production districts, such as textiles, ceramics, glass, flexible and metal packaging, all areas where the Italian industry has already embraced inkjet extensively.

“I am sure that an edition of InPrint in Milan, our economic capital and the heart of the Italian industry, will enable the global printing community to exchange vital information and give birth to projects and collaborations even more exciting. Inkjet will allow the different industries to grow the business.”

2014’s inaugural InPrint show, which took place in Hannover, attracted 7,000 individual visitors from 63 countries, a third of whom attended all three days. More than half of the show’s visitors came from the manufacturing and printing industries and others attended from the IT, research & development, technical consultancy and publishing industries.

InPrint 2015, which will take place from 10-12 November 2015 at Messe Munich, Germany, is already set to feature more than 100 exhibitors. 40 new companies, including Heidelberg, KBA, Konica Minolta, Kyocera and Seiko, have already signed up. The show will return to Germany in 2017.