The Gulf Print & Pack 2024 was the largest commercial and package printing trade fest. The trade show gathered professionals from the printer industry on the show floor from 9-11 January 2024 at Dubai World Trade Centre UAE.
The Gulf Print & Pack exhibition showcased photo books, labels, packaging, children’s books, digitally printed textiles, display graphics, posters, the latest machines, publishing software, and banners. The products that were present at the show floor included print origination equipment, plates and plate-making equipment, printing machinery, paper, board, foils, films, coatings, inks, varnishes, print finishing, packaging materials, printers and converters, logistics systems, and packaging machines.
TVC Media Team was recently interviewed with Barry Killengrey, Event Director of Gulf Print & Pack, and Andy Thomas-Emans, Strategic Director of Labelexpo Global Series. Here’s the summary of the conversation that took place.
Conversation with Barry Killengrey, Event Director of Gulf Print & Pack
How vital was Gulf Print & Pack 2024 as the major Middle East and North Africa commercial and package print exhibition?
Gulf Print & Pack 2024 was the most significant exhibition in the GCC region for all types of commercial printing, label, and package printing solutions. This dedicated trade show remained the most important event for all regional printers and Print Service Providers (PSPs) to attend. This edition was held from 9-11 January 2024 at Dubai World Trade Centre. The 2024 edition brought together leading industry suppliers with live demonstrations of a wide range of print, finishing, materials, and workflow solutions.
What were the key highlights and objectives of Gulf Print & Pack 2024?
We wanted to position Gulf Print & Pack 2024 as the leading showcase for innovation in that fast-moving industry for commercial, label, and package printers throughout the MENA and GCC regions. The range of technologies on show included the latest developments in wide format printing and converting, and critical technologies that were reshaping the label and package printing industry, particularly across flexo, digital, and hybrid printing. The key trend in the MENA market was the transition to digital, not only in print and post-print equipment but also workflow, and visitors could expect to see this transition come to life on the show floor at Gulf Print and Pack 2024.
How did Gulf Print & Pack 2024 demonstrate industry innovation with the latest printing technology and machinery?
Gulf Print & Pack 2024 was the only place in this region to see live demonstrations from some of the world’s leading industry suppliers, who showcased the latest machinery, technology, and materials deployed by the print and packaging industry
Could you elaborate on the range of products and services showcased at Gulf Print & Pack 2024?
New technologies were demonstrated for each of these key market sectors, all of which offered opportunities for growth for PSPs, commercial and package printers. New equipment for the commercial printing market included the Ricoh Pro C9500 and Pro C7500 digital presses and the Auto Colour Adjuster inline quality control system.
Heidelberg showcased its new Versafire product range capable of printing banners up to 1,260mm and printing on paper media from 40 to 470g/m2 duplex. Heidelberg offered the fifth colour for online finishing with many possible substrates. On the labelling side, new equipment included Konica Minolta’s AccurioLabel 400 toner-based digital label press, printing at speeds up to 39.9 m/min CMYK and now with the option to add white.
The press incorporated Konica Minolta’s Intelligent Quality Optimizer (IQ-520) colour management functionality for real-time colour stability and registration control. Visitors could also expect to see new comprehensive format printing systems – sheet, roll, and hybrid – alongside new cutting table technology, which allowed PSPs to participate in a new value-added market, including display graphics.
The latest digital embellishment technology was displayed for commercial and package printing markets. Automation was the game’s name on the finishing and converting side, with demonstrations of automated book production, for example.
This summary just touched the surface of the new technology on show. For example, workflow and supply chain automation systems were a prominent part of the show.
What opportunities did Gulf Print & Pack 2024 offer for networking, knowledge sharing, and business collaborations?
Participating in this Gulf Print & Pack edition gave the attendees an unrivalled opportunity to do business with the complete ecosystem of commercial and package print suppliers. It was the region’s biggest in-person event for this industry since 2019. It offered an unrivalled opportunity to network with a broader audience covering various industry areas, from label printing, digital textiles, wall coverings, on-demand book printing, and more.
Looking ahead, what are your expectations and vision for the future editions of Gulf Print & Pack?
Looking ahead to future editions of Gulf Print & Pack, we expect to highlight key technology trends that will grow the future of both commercial printing and print packaging in the GCC and MENA regions. The show will aim to accelerate the move from analog to digital printing and finishing while simultaneously ‘digitising’ and automating analog printing and converting processes.
Gulf Print & Pack will provide the forum for all the region’s printers to participate in this new technology journey.
Conversation with Andy Thomas-Emans, Strategic Director, Labelexpo Global Series
As Strategic Director of Labelexpo Global Series, what was the importance of Gulf Print & Pack 2024 in the Middle East and North Africa?
The real significance of Gulf Print & Pack for the Labelexpo group was that it was the only one of our global shows where we had contact with the commercial printing industry – book printing, transactional print, retail POS, direct mail, corrugated or fabric printing. It was a unique opportunity to see how this world interacted with the label and flexible packaging world we were familiar with at our other shows. We found the same general trends – the need to add value, the move to the digitization of analogue workflows, automation, and Cloud networking. We also found that commercial printers were looking to enter the packaging world, and label printers were looking to diversify into POS/POD print
What made Gulf Print & Pack 2024 the leading regional commercial and package print exhibition?
Referring to my answer above, our background in organising major print-related events made Gulf Print & Pack unique in the GCC/MENA region. We also could bring the labels and package printing suppliers and visitors together with the suppliers to the commercial print industry and see how the fusion of these technologies worked. So, for example, you could have been a label converter interested in taking on wide-format printing to cater for your existing brand customers’ POS requirements. Or you could have been a sheetfed commercial printer looking at a move into folding cartons using digital cut-sheet technology. This was indeed a unique proposition.
How is the label and packaging printing industry tackling environmental challenges as sustainability grows? Gulf Print & Pack 2024: What innovation or method stood out?
The labels and package print industries face massive sustainability hurdles – for example, the pressure-sensitive label industry has to find a way to handle the collection and up-cycling of liner waste – and both industries are heavy users of plastic films at a time when plastic packaging is environmental pressure (although mainly from the way it is disposed of rather than the manufacturing process or functional benefits). These challenges are being addressed in various innovative ways, for example, by using more post-consumer plastic waste to manufacture new films and containers and developing new linerless technologies for consumer product packaging. All these trends could be examined by visiting the materials suppliers at Gulf Print & Pack 2024.
How does digital printing affect label and packaging printing? Gulf Print & Pack 2024 featured what digital printing innovations?
Digital printing has revolutionised the labels and package printing industries, making hyper-short runs and product personalization possible and opening up new opportunities to track and secure products through variable coding. Show attendees were advised to ensure they visited stands of companies like BOBST and Nilpeter to witness the seamless integration of full-colour variable print technologies into hybrid printing systems. These systems combined 7-colour digital print engines with remarkably automated flexo printing and converting modules.
Given customer needs and technical advances, how do you see the label and packaging printing sector evolving?
I see a continuing trend to ‘hybrid’ printing and converting systems that mix and match digital – full and single colour (White, Black, or Spot Color) – with highly efficient and automated analogue printing and converting technology. At the same time, digital embellishment will augment the value-added possibilities open to label and packaging converters by allowing decorative elements to appear cost-effectively on short-run packaging products, including variable tactile and metallic imaging.
Finally, what should industry experts, entrepreneurs, and enthusiasts learn from Gulf Print & Pack 2024?
All these attendees should take time to look at what is happening on the ‘other side of the fence’ – so package printers should look at the latest opportunities in commercial and wide format print, and vice versa. They will be inspired to move their business in a different direction, often using the skills they have already developed in their business niche and applying that to a broader set of new market opportunities.
