Exhibitors give thumbs up to smaller towns
Print Pack Plast at Pune may set a trend
With over 90 participants from all over the country and over 4000 visitors over four days, Print Pack Plast held at Pune from the 4th to 7th October may well set a trend for exhibitions in smaller towns. The relative inexperience of the organisers notwithstanding and the obvious lack of infrastructure in the non-traditional venue, the show put up by Tashika Expovision was a success. Even the heavy rains during the last two days could not dampen the crowds that thronged to the Ganesh Krida Manch.
As was expected, the largest participation was from the small offset machine manufacturers. Swifts, Patel Enterprises, Speed-o-Graph, Galantic, Macro Print, Patil Offset and Fieldstar were all there with their machines. R C Agencies were there with their imported refurbished machines. All of them were happy with the response. ``This has been one of the best exhibitions for us in a long time,`` averred Santu Patel of Patel Enterprises.
Equally happy were the Computer Stationery Machine Manufacturers. Web Tech, with the largest stall had displayed their complete range. Alois Gutenberg had their Quick Form Pack-to-Pack and Compac 120 Continouous Statinery Machines. Sud and Waren were present through their dealer- Alpha Agencies and had displayed a collator machine. Print-Packaging.com spoke to Vinay Dayal of Alois Gutenberg who was very optimistic about the quality of leads they generated.
Pre-Press segment had a wide representation with Memory Repro, Parag Repro, Printax, Printman, Reprographic systems and Technova displaying their wares.
The Packaging and Converting Machine regulars like Acme Machinery, Micro Machinery Co., Prakash Engineering Works, Deluxe Printing Machinery, Albha Omega Machines, Darshan Sales, Printpack Engineers, Senior Machinery Co. and Sheth Graphics were all there with one or more machines and were satisfied with the turnout.
The Post Press and Finishing segment was represented by Five Star Machinery co., Fuser Graphics, Printech Graphics and Harbhajan Singh & Company. Harbhajan Singh received a good response for their 2 Clamp Perfect Binder. Mr. Manku of Printech Graphics was not happy with the quality of visitors and felt that their stand-alone Joint Forming Press and Hydraulic Press for bookbinding were too sophisticated for the semi urban crowd.
KK Printing Machines, who had displayed posters and catalogues of their range of Ronald Web Offset Printing Machines, were satisfied with the response. Kinnari's Pad Flex were demonstrating their Pad Printing Machine and were happy with the exposure. Unique Lighting Industries had their UV Curing Machines and felt that the event had given them, ``more than our expectation.``
Sharp Engineering had displayed their Box Strapping Machines. Pragati Industries had their Foil Stamping Machine and Santosh Converting Machine had a Rotogravure Printing Machine. Integrated Innovators had their labelling machine. All of them were positive about the benefits from the show.
Swastik Foils had displayed Stamping Foils and Metalized Films and Papers of their principals Vacmet Packaging, Agra. Maharashtra Paper Company representing Ballarpur Paper and Jai Kaushal had a stand. Vishal Plastics were displaying their PVC film and sheets used for packaging. Conspicuously absent were the Ink manufacturers.
The ancillary industries were there with Eastern Steel Industries for their cutting tools, VM Trades for their bearings, Acmevac for their Vacuum Pumps, Alfa Therm for Air Heaters, Indian Knives for their industrial knives and Eco- Friend for their Doctor Blades.
The media had its fair representation with industry periodicals- Screen Print India, POP Today, Press Ideas and PaperInPack. Sci Tech Books had displayed their range of books on Printing, Packaging and Plastics. Rounding up the media perfectly was Print-Packaging.com who were also the official web hosts for the event.
The digital printing/ signage section had Del Graphic Systems with their digital printers. Digital Media were displaying their wide format services and a Scrolling Display.
The name Print Pack Plast was somehow a misnomer. There was hardly anything of Plastics. Pimco Machines, manufacturers of Plastic Moulds and Dies was feeling out of place without the Plastic Extruding Machines around. P D Kamat of Sci Tech Books also felt that the show was not really up their alley as they cater more to the Plastic industry.
The visitors to the show had to register at the entrance with their business cards. The only exceptions were the students who could register with their college I-Cards. With several printing colleges in Pune, students were seen in large numbers. The visitors came predominantly from all over Maharashtra as well as Gujarat. Several event organisers were among the visitors. There were the organisers of shows at Rajkot, Ahemdabad, Nagpur and Chennai. That surely points towards a trend.
In the end it was clear that second rung cities like Pune have tremendous potential for holding shows of this kind. There are several entrepreneurs in these cities and around who welcome the opportunity to view the machine, materials and services among their midst. It is equally clear that the organisers have to go a long way to put up shows that go along professionally and smoothly. Till then, the exhibitors have to take the glitches in their stride.
