Labelexpo Americas, in its 16th edition, attracted record numbers in 2018. A total of 487 exhibitors were spread across 203,642 square feet, with almost 30% of exhibitors new to this year’s show.
         
During the course of the three day show, which took place from September 25-27 at Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Chicago, IL, an increase in attendees to 16,413 from 86 countries passed through its doors. The Latin America region was especially strongly represented, with a 95% increase on its 2016 show attendee total. Day three, traditionally a quieter day, saw over 11% more visitors than on the same day in 2016. By the end of day three, the show organizer reported an 83% rebook rate for its 2020 event.
   
Labelexpo Americas 2018 featured key press unveilings including: the Mark Andy P9E, P7E, and P5E; Xeikon’s entry-level label printing and converting option, Label Discovery; Epson’s UV LED cured L-6534 digital press; Grafisk Maskinfabrik’s DC330 Mini converting machine; and AB Graphic’s new ILC760 inline coating machine. 
   
Among the many products launched at the show were: Avery Dennison’s heat sealable reclosure technology; Flint Group’s portfolio of food compliant inks for short-run flexible packaging, including the web-based Vivi Colour Solutions; Phoseon Technology’s FireJet FJ605, a self-contained and air-cooled UV LED curing lamp for flexographic applications; Kodak’s Flexcel NX Ultra Solution, a solvent-free, VOC-free, water-based system; and GEW’s E4C UV curing system, engineered to offer converters access to higher power in a compact footprint.
   
Tasha Ventimiglia, Labelexpo Americas event director, says, “The tremendous feedback we’ve had from exhibitors and visitors alike at this year’s Labelexpo Americas demonstrates that there’s a real momentum in the industry right now, and that was reflected in the buyers’ mood, with numerous sales achieved on the show floor and a strong international focus. This year’s theme ‘Explore your Future’ really was evident, with more fascinating innovations than ever before providing even more choice for buyers, and a significant increase in exhibitors. It really shows that press manufacturers and the industry supply chain are upping their game. The Automation Arena and TLMI Ecovillage proved to be huge hits, with many packed out demonstrations on the show floor and are further proof that the industry continues to evolve. This show is very much about the visitor experience, and it was fantastic to see this pay dividends with 140 exhibitors and 800 attendees opting in to our brand new Label Connections 1:1 matching program, and all attendees using our lead retrieval touch NFC badges offering for the very first time. These really helped connect suppliers and buyers more effectively than ever before.
     
“In summary, we are delighted with yet another hugely successful show,” she adds. “This continued rise in exhibitor numbers, the increasing interest from Latin American visitors, alongside the rebook rate for our 2020 show, are testament to Labelexpo Americas’ unrivaled quality and variety. All of these reaffirm Labelexpo Americas’ position as the number one label and package printing show in the Americas.”
   
“There’s a lot of excitement around this Labelexpo that I haven’t seen before,” explains Dan Muenzer, president of TLMI. “There are more innovations being launched here than in previous issues, just because the speed of technology introduction is changing. It’s exceeded my expectations, and my expectations were high. I had the chance to talk to a lot of people and there hasn’t been anybody who hasn’t said it’s been the most energetic, successful Labelexpo they’ve ever experienced. It’s been a great show, not only in terms of the new innovations and technology that we share, but in relation to the amount of business that was actually written. People absolutely see the value in Labelexpo.” 
 
Micheal Lane, CEO, The Meyers Printing Companies, who took part in the conference CEO panel discussion on day one of the show, adds, “You sense a positive buzz from the economy, clearly we are in a good economic cycle, people are buying. This show is as good as any I’ve ever seen. And there’s more options, more solutions, than perhaps ever, and this whole idea of digital and flexo, melding together to create different solutions than existed before – there’s booth after booth after booth that’s an example of where that technology is going. My expectations this year for Labelexpo have been exceeded.”
   
Adam Gray, president and CEO, SheetLabels.com, who presented a conference session on the rise of printing on demand, says, “We have attended the Labelexpo Americas for 10 years now and have always learned something new. Most importantly, we’ve established many long-lasting relationships with other converters, vendors and many great people in our industry. I would encourage anyone in the labeling and packaging industry to go to this show.”