FESPA is introducing FIT (FESPA Innovations and Trends), a new series of free virtual events aimed at helping printers plan for their business recovery. A two-day Wide Format event this month will feature latest technology from manufacturers including HP, EFI, Mutoh, Durst, Mimaki and Kornit Digital.
“Spring is here, and businesses are increasingly focused on their plans for re-invigoration after this hugely challenging year,” says FESPA CEO Neil Felton. “To plan investments and make informed decisions, printers need to be able to see new products, discover technological developments, and access expert advice on products, applications and avenues for diversification and development.”
The new interactive live online events are each themed around a particular area of technology and applications. The first two events in the series will take place in May and June 2021.
Wide Format: 26-27 May 2021
Focussing on wide format graphics and the evolving printed décor market, this event will showcase innovations from a range of leading technology, software and substrate suppliers.
Gold sponsors include: Durst, highlighting its latest P5 portfolio; EFI, showcasing its new EFI Vutek Q5; HP, showing its new Latex 700 and 800 portfolios; Kornit Digital, explaining how printers can harness its NeoPigment inks; Mimaki, presenting its new 100 series of UV, solvent and sublimation printers; OneVision, highlighting its end-to-end automation suite; and PrintFactory, discussing the benefits of using correct workflow and colour management tools.
Other participating suppliers include Ahlstrom-Munksjö, Aleph, Aslan, Avery Dennison, Dataline, Elitron, Fotoba, Hanglory, Kala, Klieverik, Kongsberg, Mactac, Mutoh, Pigment.Inc, PLASTGommet, PONGS, STS Inks and TTS.
Printed Clothing: 9-10 June 2021
The second FIT event focuses on the textile printing and garment decoration sector, covering direct-to-garment (DTG), screen printing, software and materials.
Gold sponsors include: B-FLEX, showcasing its growing heat transfer vinyl portfolio; EFI Reggiani, introducing its integrated offering for digital textile production; Gemini CAD, highlighting its software solutions for fashion designers, manufacturers and e-commerce brands; Kornit Digital, presenting the latest Kornit HD industrial DTG printers; Polyprint, presenting its DTG & Direct-to-fabric (DTF) printers and pre-treatment machines; PrintFactory, highlighting its suite of textile software tools; Roland, introducing a new compact DTG printer; and ROQ, showing its latest innovations in automatic screen printing and hybrid printing.
Other exhibitors include technology suppliers INO, Klieverik, Lotus Holland, Melco, Pigment.Inc, Sport PrintLab, Vastex, customised software solution provider Zakeke, and transfer film producer COVEME.
Each FIT event will feature a minimum of 16 exhibitors presenting their products and solutions, says a FESPA press release. Visitors will have open access to virtual demonstrations, exhibitor insight and Q&A sessions. Participants can see the full event programme in advance to plan their time, and the online platform makes it easy to join live chats, network via video chat, and schedule timed meetings.
FESPA FIT events are free to attend for visitors, but numbers are capped to manage the quality of the interactive experience for printers and suppliers alike.
“Speaking to printers across our communities it’s clear that – while their strong preference is to do all of this in a live event setting – there’s a pressing need to access information in a time-efficient way,” Felton says. “They want the opportunity to ask questions, take advice, interact with suppliers and nurture relationships with like-minded entrepreneurs. By launching the FIT series of virtual events, we’re supporting our community in the most effective way available until we can meet in the real world again at a FESPA live exhibition.”
The events will take place on the digital event hosting platform that was used for the virtual FESPA Global Summit, which took place in January 2021.
Visit https://hopin.com/events/fit-wideformat-graphics-decor?code=KV1UkXeKd3KVn7fY8uAcqk0IQ for a FIT Wide Format event program and to register as a visitor.
For the printed clothing event program and registration, visit: https://hopin.com/events/fespa-printed-clothing?code=wWiYEfGa07udNZcHwRyj9reJ0ENDS
