The incredible growth rate of the Indian market has not gone unnoticed by both international and national labeling professionals. The opportunities for local skill development with the help of international investment and knowledge sharing are endless. Labelexpo India is the place where local talent will meet the big international players and both will find mutual benefits to their businesses. With many companies favoring Labelexpo India to be the event that they launch their new products at this year, the show floor is set to have more machinery and live demonstrations than ever before.

There has already been an excellent response from the industry to this show, with a good rate of bookings from international industry leaders, such as Mark Andy, Nilpeter, UPM Raflatac, Omet, Gallus, HP, Erhardt+Leimer, Avery Dennison and Martin Automatic. Many local manufacturers, such as Holostik India Limited, Kaygee Loparex India Pvt Ltd, Kurz India, RK Machine Tool Industry, SMI Coated Products Pvt Ltd, Stic-On Papers Pvt Ltd and Weldon Celloplast Limited have already booked as well.

The show this year will have a large number of working machinery on display with many exhibitors choosing Labelexpo India to launch their new products.

Nilpeter

Nilpeter will for the first time ever show its new FB-3300Servo Build, which has a number of features for value-added printing, such as a splicing table/web infeed which is a convenient splicing table with pneumatic hold-down bars speeds roll splicing with a programmable 40” unwind and infeed modules to enhance precision even further, and ergonomic slide-out print stations with quick print-head adjustment and anilox roll change. The Midpoint Pacing system resets the tension between the print and die-cutting stations to improve register and reduce waste. The FB-3300Servo Build has an Instant Registry Response (IRR) system enables multi-direction lineal register adjustment without affecting web tension which dramatically reducing set-up times.

Omet

Omet will be showing its Flexy and Flexy-S model ranges which are designed to offer simplicity and ease of use to label converters. Both models meet today’s market demands for quality print produced at affordable prices. The Flexy, which is available in three web widths, has a maximum speed of 150 m/min. It offers a combination of flexo and screen printing, with interchangeable units, as well as inline hot and cold foil processes. The Flexy-S introduces shaftless and servo drive capability for the very highest performance across the full spectrum of substrates. This allows it to print with the smallest changes in pitch because the servo motors give direct drive to the plate and impression cylinders and has a higher top speed of 200m/min.

Roger Pellow, Labelexpo Managing Director said, “Even with eight months to go we can see that Labelexpo India will support the vibrant Indian label industry and provide a platform to present the latest innovations. There will be more working machinery and live demonstrations than ever before, ensuring the strong growth of the market and show. Labelexpo India will be the only event to be at for professionals in the Indian labeling industry to be at this year and we are looking forward to welcoming everyone to New Delhi in December.”

The previous event in 2008 attracted over 200 exhibitors and almost 5,000 visitors.

Roger Pellow, Labelexpo Managing Director said, “The Labelexpo brand has set standards in our industry for the past 30 years. In the same way, Labelexpo India will support the vibrant Indian label industry and provide a platform to present the latest innovations. Labelexpo India reflects more than just a name change – it shows our commitment to develop the industry in the same way as the other Labelexpo events around the world have done. That means more working machinery and live demonstrations, ensuring the strong growth of the market and show.”

Despite the atrocities in Mumbai just five days previously, which caused a number of people to cancel their travel plans, the event attracted nearly 5,000 visitors from India, Europe, Australia and the Middle East.

It was a tremendous effort demonstrated by the label industry in India, and the show attendees displayed their utmost commitment to the industry’s development and growth.

The exhibition had almost 200 exhibitors with plenty of working machinery on display. There were live demonstrations running continuously throughout the duration of the show. Nilpeter, Gallus, Gidue, HP, Jandu, Rotatek, Weldon Celloplast were among the most attended stalls where visitors had a unique opportunity to see the latest technology in action, ask questions and experience the entire label workflow first-hand. The show achieved its primary role – to gather the best examples of machinery and materials from a wide variety of international and Indian manufacturers and enable visitors to compare technology and make their decisions on future investments. And many exhibitors noticed how focused and knowledgeable the visitors were – they came prepared to discuss their opportunities and plan the future growth of their business according to its potential.

“I was pleasantly surprised to see such a focused crowd”, said Mrs Cristina Toffolo, Managing Director of Gidue. “Visitors to our stand were very well-prepared, they knew what they were looking for and our team were eager to answer their questions.”

Samir Patkar, Business Manager of Gallus added: “In the current situation of the credit crisis and the tragic terror attacks in Mumbai the India Label Show delivered the right audience for us. The quality of attendees was very high, we saw approximately 80% of our customers who were willing to do business with us. It is a great result for us.”

In addition to the exhibition, the India Label Show ran conference sessions on the first three days of the show. The conference was chaired by Mike Fairley, world-renowned label guru, and Andy Thomas, Managing Editor of Labels & Labeling. The conference explored the most important subjects in the label community, among which were: brand protection, the future of digital technologies, end user requirements and successful print buyer - converter partnerships. The panel discussions had a mix of end users, designers, converters and suppliers; there was a lively discussion from the floor as label experts reviewed challenges facing the label industry in India and pondered on best solutions for suppliers, converters and designers to jointly deliver a successful product for the end-user. Brand owners, Colgate, Moser Baer, Unilever, Ranbaxy, among others, made a very valuable contribution to the debates.

On the first evening of the show, the Labels Group organized the Indian Label Awards 2008 on behalf of LMAI (the Label Manufacturers Association of India). At the gala evening which had 650 attendees, the best Indian printers and converters were recognized and awarded for their excellence and contribution to the advancement of the Indian label industry. Manish Desai, the President of LMAI, and Roger Pellow, Managing Director of the Labels Group, were joined on stage by Ms Mandira Bedi, a Bollywood star who orchestrated a glittering evening of award presentations and entertainment. Raj Srivinasan, Managing Director of Avery Dennison India, said he was honoured to be involved in the LMAI awards and in his leadership of the company in India he pledged full commitment to the growth and development of the label industry in India.

Roger Pellow, Managing Director of Labels Group, commented on the India Label Show: “I am very pleased with the results we’ve had at the India Label Show. This is the first exhibition that the Tarsus Labels Group has organized in India and considering the very difficult economic situation and the terrible atrocities that happened recently in Mumbai, the feedback that we’ve had is that the who’s who of the Indian label industry were at the show, the printers came to do business and the quality of attendees was excellent.

“My team and I really enjoyed the show and we are very pleased to be able to support the Indian label industry and help in its growth and development. We felt that it was very important that we should continue with the planned show expressing our solidarity to the Indian label industry despite the difficult circumstances. I would like to thank all our exhibitors and visitors for their loyalty and support. We look very much forward to returning to India in 2010 when the show will be bigger and better.”