trying to tell people what to buy and we’re listening to what they want to do and the direction they want to take their company.” Instead, the company strives to go on a journey of meeting needs not only now, but in time to come as well. One of Fujifilm’s straplines is ‘Value from Innovation’, and Stephenson explains that it’s no longer about a commodity and printing as cheaply as possible. “Our customers will pay more for each copy that we print as an industry,” he says. “People will come to print for value, and things they want to keep and have as memories, that digital alone can't bring.” This is something Blakemore echoed having seen a lot of print companies wanting to diversify from what they have been doing traditionally. Referring to the offering on the Morgana stand, he says: "With these products and the cost of them, it’s a low risk to take that chance and invest in a machine that’s not going to break the bank and you don’t need to do much work to cover the cost. “It allows you to step into a different market and broaden the base of your business moving away from your traditional work and trying something new. Packaging is definitely a growing area, offering that bespoke, personalised, unique packaging that’s short-run, digitally produced, and being able to finish it like this is key.” For the direct-to-film (DTF) area, InkTec launched its new 30cm DTF entry-level printer and was also demonstrating the 60cm DTF printer which was originally launched at Printwear and Promotion LIVE! last year. Also on show was the UV DTF machine which is ideal for glass, ceramics, and promotional items. “We decided to launch our 30cm printer today at The Print Show because we wanted to speak to the end-user, the person who's using the technology,” says Sarah Hall, sales executive and account manager at InkTec. A Shifting Landscape On speaking with exhibitors throughout the three-day event, there appears to be a shift taking place in terms of the role and place of UK exhibitions in today’s market. In years gone by, visitor numbers were considerably higher with attendees queuing through the doors and flooding in as soon as the halls opened each morning. However, as the years have gone by, exhibitions are experiencing a slight drop in the number of attendees each year with exhibitors and industry members alike commenting that the halls are beginning to feel less packed throughout the day. With that being said, the 2023 event saw a new phenomenon beginning to form and this is one of quality over quantity – something we heard time and time again as we checked this year and it was a great chance for us to show the technology here in the UK.” Fujifilm UK had the largest single stand ever seen at The Print Show and was situated at the back of the exhibition hall. When we caught up with Mark Stephenson, product manager at Fujifilm on the final day of the event, he told us: “We made a big noise earlier this year when we launched our print-on-demand (POD) range of cutsheet toner printers. At that time, we had two or three machines, now we’ve added two new machines and only just this month was the launch. “So we thought it perfect timing to come back to The Print Show and take our biggest stand ever. People are walking through the hall, thinking 'when I get to the back it will just be people selling sticky tape and grommets,' but actually here’s Fujifilm! The main reason for coming to the show is we have two new machines, the EC and the SC series of Revoria range of presses. So now from light production all the way up to a press that can print in ten different colours, we can meet the needs of any customer.” Something Stephenson highlighted was the change in tact from the manufacturer. As a result, the company has stopped “putting people in a box” due to the high amount of businesses diversifying. “A word we all learned during lockdown was to pivot and to change the direction based on the circumstances, so whether someone wants wide-format in sizes measured up to metres wide, to something that can print postcards in the Revoria range or something in between, we’ve stopped ▲ The Print Show 2023 was held in Hall 17 of the NEC, Birmingham ◄ Fujifilm offered professional headshot photgraphy sessions as part of its presence at The Print Show 2023 attendess at the 2023 exhibition 4,000 www.printmonthly.co.uk 50 November / December 2023 - Issue 345 EVENT SPOTLIGHT / THE PRINT SHOW REVIEW
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjM0NDIxOA==