As we put this story together, the combined shows including VIEE and PrintCom are still under way at the Darling Harbour Expo Centre for the last time – at least for a few years, whilst the venue undergoes some renovations. We understand the event will move to the Homebush venue for the next few years.
Wide Format Online could only be there for the opening day and we were there as usual with video camera shooting videos for the benefit of the large majority of the industry that could not get to the show. This article will be expanded and kept in the forefront as more and more of the videos are approved and uploaded.
Monday was generally a busy day but with all these trade shows the traffic comes and goes in waves. However from our perspective on the Monday, it was a good show with a very positive vibe. Exhibitors seemed delighted. We can only hope that the remaining two days were as positive.
The increasing number of Chinese exhibitors was very noticeable, especially in the LED area but fortunately most of the traditional exhibitors were again present bringing with them the very latest in their product range. Even some first time showings – an accolade for the exhibitor and the event.
Below are some videos and images of the show on that first day.
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Russell Cavanagh, sales director of DES was extremely upbeat about the interest that was being shown in the first VUTEk QS2 Pro that arrived in Australia and was on show at the VIIE.
Russell was intent on showing how the 600dpi print from the QS2 was equal in quality to a 1000dpi print thus enabling an almost doubling of speed with less ink.
www.des-pl.com.au
Anitech's stand was a hive of activity with the the Kornit Avalanche being one of the major focal point, the LG Hausys film competition and Anitech's other regulars such as the KIP C7800 and the Jetrix 1212 UV flatbed. Plus many more of Anitech's huge range of products.
www.anitech.com.au
Next Printing were making no mistake about which product they were promoting - Re-board.
Re-board, according to Richard Lucas of HVG Graphics is gaining rapid growth in the shop fitting, expo display and many other markets where its flexibility, printability, light weight, recyclability were key factors in replacing the traditional MDF for these applications.
www.hvggraphics.com.au
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Scott Wood, Product Manager for EFI was on the Spicers to demonstrate these best selling printers. Scott was in Australia from the EFI factory in New Hampshire, USA.
www.spicers.com.au
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Chez Aranganathan, CEO of Real Time Media Solutions is a first time exhibitor at the show. The company has a unique niche, that of supplying only accessories to the industry. According to Chez, the company is finding a good welcome by the industry.
www.rtmediasolutions.com.au
Starleaton Digital Solutions. Ben Eaton of Starleaton said they were having a great show, one of the best in recent years.
www.starleaton.com.au
Ronnie Cox Graphic Supplies is a well established South African supplier who have designed and developed this UV varnish machine for its first showing in Australia. Small in size, it has many applications for the smaller printer. PRD Print have been appointed the local distributors for the product.
www.prdprint.com.au 
Photo Electronic Systems are regulars at the our sign shows with their Durst printers. The Rho P10/250 joins the Rho family as the latest edition to these high productiion machines.
The poster on the machine reads : True 1000 dpi resolution;
6 colour + white under and over print;
Engineered and built for 24/7 production.
www.photoelectronics.com.au
Print n Cut (ex Wilenco Systems) are long time Roland DG distributors and for the benefit of this show welcomed local Siser distributor, Conect Enterprises and their guest Marco De Rossi (Siser Italy) to demonstrate the huge versatility of the Siser range of products. See video below.
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www.printncutsolutions.com.au
www.conect.net.au
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Roland DG's Business Development Manager Conrad Birkett proudly shows off the companies new products, including the awesome SolJet Pro4 XR-640, a printer/cutter which Conrad describes as a multi-generational machine.
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This video is best viewed in full screen mode
Con James from Optimus was giving demonstrations of the Optimus Dash system at the show, an MIS system that has helped many wide format printers around the world improve their bottom line.
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Phil Trumble, CEO of Positive Camtec takes us through their exhibits at the show. Phil emphasised how proud the company was of representing the swissqprint in Australia as these flatbed printers are considered by many to be the benchmark by which others are judged. In addition there was much competition for the distributorship in our region.
The Impala was the machine of choice for exhibit at the show.
www.positivecamtec.com.au
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Jeff de Kleijn, HP's Category Manager based in Singapore was in Sydney for the show. He took us around the HP stand to show off the two printers, the HP Latex L28500 and the HP FB500
www.hp.com.au/graphicarts
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Steven Badger, Product Manager for the Arizona and Procut systems takes us through this powerful combination using the Arizona 550GT and the Zund cutting table running the Procut software.
www.oce.com.au
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James Farmer takes us around the AVS stand to show off the new company catalogue, including the full range of Roland DG printers, laminators, Fletcher Terry cutters, 3M vinyls and the Titan range of rigid substrates. Of particular interest were the Yellow Tools range of signwriter tools.
