This year, the 25th Anniversary of Labelexpo, will see the biggest ever Labelexpo show to be held in Brussels - albeit a very different show to the very first event when the show was launched in London in 1980.
At this time, in the early 1980's, the whole focus of Labelexpo events was related to the emerging and fast-growing self-adhesive label market. A market that at that time was no more than 18% of total European label usage, with wet-glue applied labels very much the dominant technology.
Today however, the world of labels is dominated by self-adhesives - and label technologies such as sleeving, shrink, and wrap-around film, which are growing at up to 20% or more per annum.
With these changes, Labelexpo has now become a key event that showcases all the growth label technologies - self-adhesives, in-mould, cut-and-stack film, wrap-around film, shrink, sleeving - as well as many related product decoration solutions such as stand-up pouches, cartons and unsupported film converting.
To accommodate this changing world of labels, press manufacturers are now showing converting lines with a greater variety, more specialised, incorporating advanced tension and temperature controls, multiple printing processes and ever-more in-line finishing options. What's more, new label presses on show will for the first time probably be largely servo-driven machines.
But it's not just conventional printing by flexo and UV flexo letterpress or screen that is on show. Digital label presses are currently being installed at their fastest rate ever - perhaps 10% of all new label press installations - and exhibitors presenting and running digital printing solutions are likely to be inundated with visitors.
Apart from digital presses there are now digital pre-press solutions that were not even a reality in the early 1980's. Now, almost every label converter uses some kind of electronic pre-press, with the most advanced technology being shown at Labelexpo not only designing labels and outputting to plates, but also able to offer the facility to put the labels created on screen to virtual bottles and packs, rotate through any angle and even place the virtual labelled product on to virtual retail shelves.
Managing a label business is now also a far more complex operation than ever before and this has led to new types of exhibitors at Labelexpo. Management information systems (MIS), waste and environment control systems, hygiene accreditation programs, quality management procedures, and the like, are amongst the solutions to be found at the show.
Probably the major new area of interest at Labelexpo Europe this year will be a key focus on the manufacturing and use of RFID smart labels - with a special Smart Labels Pavilion and a Smart Labels Seminar Day on the 23rd September, focusing on a 'How to' approach, and highlighting the opportunities in a market anticipated to grow to over 1,000 billion tags by 2015.
Two other new Masterclasses are scheduled for Labelexpo aimed at brand owners - one on label design and origination, and one on label decoration techniques and methods. Particularly targeted at brand owners and label end-users, these Masterclasses are looking to bridge the knowledge gap between label producer and user organisations. A seminar program also complements the show.
Labelexpo Europe this year is the largest of all the global Labelexpo events - with some 450 exhibitors and an anticipated 23,000 visitors coming from not only Western Europe but also the fast-growing Central and Eastern European countries, the Middle East, Australia & New Zealand, Asia, India, South Africa and North & South America. Indeed, the Brussels show is a totally global event for virtually everything to do with labels.
2005 will also be the first time that the recently re-launched Global Label Awards will be hosted in Brussels on the first night of the show, 21st September. Dinner, entertainment and Awards presentations characterise an evening at which some 700 label industry suppliers and converters are expected to attend.
For show visitors that have not yet purchased a copy of the widely acclaimed 'Encyclopedia of Labels and Label Technology', copies will be on sale on the Labels & Labelling booth, with author Mike Fairley on hand to sign copies if required.
With the highest ever expected media presence at Labelexpo Europe this year - and a stable and professional exhibition management - the 2005 event looks set to provide exhibitors and visitors alike with a world class show that will do much to further the world of labels, and help printers and converters innovate and increase the success of their business.