It’s only been a few days since I’m back from Labelexpo Europe in Brussels. I’m still catching up on sleep and shaking off the last of the jet lag. I haven’t completely processed it all just yet, as far as going over my notes, photos and videos. But if you asked me over a gueuze (my new favorite Belgian beer style) “How was the show?” I’d say something like this:

The show was tremendous, in both scale and intensity. I haven’t gotten wind of the exact figures from the show organizers, but if I was a betting man (which I am), I’d say this show was the biggest one yet, in terms of both exhibitor and attendee numbers. There were many suppliers exhibiting that I’m not familiar with. Some I don’t know just based on geography, but others new to me were there with the purpose of expanding into the narrow web label market – some mid-web folks, and companies that are more packaging focused. The label market is healthy, and people want in.

If you were to ask me what was abuzz at the show, I’ll sum it up with the label industry’s new favorite buzzword – hybrid. Hybrid press technology was everywhere. The big name flexo press manufacturers demonstrated and displayed their latest technology and it often involved presses with flexo stations alongside inkjet printing units. Mark Andy, Gallus, Nilpeter and MPS all showcased what fall under the “hybrid solutions” category.

What makes an analog press a hybrid is of course the integration of some sort of digital technology. There was no shortage of digital at the Brussels Expo. I understand there were some 57 digital printing vendors exhibiting, showing printers and presses of all shapes and sizes, for budgets large and small.

Some of my trade publication colleagues appear angry when discussing the show. They appear bothered that “nothing is new!” and harken back to the glory days of Benny Landa and the very first digital label presses.

Maybe there was nothing “groundbreaking” at the 2015 Labelexpo, however, there was certainly plenty to see and talk about. And with a show of such enormity, I truly didn’t get a chance to see everything. Over five days, we brought to our readers our Live from Labelexpo reports, as well video of press demos. Some are up on the site right now. And in the coming weeks, L&NW will take our coverage further bringing to our online community – through articles, slideshows and videos – what we did see, and provide a taste of what went down in Brussels.

Stay tuned.