Not too many would be aware that an important but specialist trade show took place at Sydney Convention Centre last week. The Roads & Traffic show was about all things to do with vehicle logistics but of course, Signage was everywhere. Leading reflective materials supplier Orafol had a major presence, demonstrating that, in parallel with LED and LCD digital signs and alerts, prominent reflectivesignage is still a vital part of road safety and wayfinding. Andy McCourt visited.
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| The Orafol team at the Roads & Traffic show. MD Alex McClelland is far right. |
Even vehicle wraps were a feature of the Roads & Traffic event, although with plenty of reflective stripes and lettering for those patrol cars that you hope do not sneak up behind you and turn on their lights! The National Roads & Traffic Expo was not a large show by PacPrint standards but it was highly focused of one of the largest sectors in the Signage market.
According to a Marketwatch/360 degree survey: "Increase In Demand (2022): At 4.0% CAGR, The Traffic Sign marketSize is expected to grow from USD$919.4 million In 2020, to reach USD$1213.6 Million by 2026."
Traffic signs or road signs are signs erected at the side of or above roads to give instructions or provide information to road users. The earliest signs were simple wooden or stone milestones. Later, signs with directional arms were introduced, for example, the fingerposts in the United Kingdom and their wooden counterparts in Saxony. With traffic volumes increasing since the 1930s, many countries have adopted pictorial 
signs or otherwise simplified and standardized their signs to overcome language barriers, and enhance traffic safety. Such pictorial signs use symbols (often silhouettes) in place of words and are usually based on international protocols. Such signs were first developed in Europe, and have been adopted by most countries to varying degrees.
This market extends into vehicle conspicuity - the identification of support and emergency vehicles in such a way as to make them profoundly distinguishable from 'ordinary' traffic. Such conspicuity 'livery' involves high use of reflective media such as Orafol's Prismatic Oralite range. As would be expected, this market is regulated and material/ink approval certifications need to be adhered to. Colours need to be consistent and accurate also since roadside/overhead colours convey meanings of what the sign represents - brown for National Parks and Heritage sites, Green for wayfinding direction signage, blue for toll roads for example.
The manufacture needs to be to a very high standard - peeling and fading is out of the question as signs must last at least five years. As for fixing, the utmost care and safety is essential - we remember the sign that fell onto a passing car on Melbourne's Tullamarine Freeway a couple of years ago. The company Signfix was an exhibitor ar Roads & Traffic Expo - they don't make signage, they specialise in certified fixing systems. To this extent, Orafol, in a rare dabble in the hardware market, offers approved traffic sign printers, optimised for the applications. Four are based on Agfa's Anapurna series and one on OKI's ColourPainter M64-s. 
Unlike, say the printed advertising billboard market, displacement by digital LED/LCD/OLED signage where content can be changed in an instant; demand for printed reflective traffic signage is increasing. Even works and detour trucks with flashing signage and warning lights carry reflective components. Of course, overhead digital sign gantries are everywhere and of invaluable benefit to alert drivers to accidents, detours, roadworks and so forth but, static reflective signs still rule for route finding and driver knowledge.
Orafol was the only sign materials exhibitor at the expo - an indication of the importance the company places on this sector. Its Oralite range is highly engineered to comply will all certifications and is also used extensively in Marine Visibilty, Personal Safety and Hazzard Warning.
For a free catalogue, contact Orafol Australia
