Packaging innovations will be in focus at the Xeikon Café in March
The third edition of the Xeikon Café educational conference is back in 2017. Scheduled for 28 to 31 March at Xeikon’s Lier facility near Antwerp, in Belgium, the event will be extended to four days instead of three, reflecting global growth and interest.
This engaging event is designed to be an informal knowledge exchange platform around packaging and label innovations, demonstrating end to end digital production solutions with content presented by leading industry suppliers, including experts from Xeikon and its Aura partners.
Driven by high quality content and an interactive format, the Café offers first-hand, actionable information and advice on industry innovations and trends. The 2017 edition will offer a strong conference programme with a focus on key innovations, technical aspects, and business education.
Filip Weymans, VP of marketing, explained, ‘This year will mark the third edition of the Xeikon Café Packaging Innovations, and it will be much bigger than the previous events with not only more partners but also many more applications. The intention is to give information about the industry that is easy for attendees to take in and understand, and to have a practical dialogue so visitors can get the most out of the event.’
He continued, ‘We want this event to demystify the hype around digital production, and help you determine where the real value lies for your business. With the overwhelming amount of information out there about digital production, it’s easy to get confused about which solution is best or what approach is the most valuable for your business. The Xeikon Café offers a hands-on platform to get direct answers from industry experts and other business owners to help you decide what is relevant and what is the best choice for your business.’
The true value of digital
‘A production process is more than just printing. It requires an efficient workflow with little human interaction, the right print media, economical consumables like foils, varnishes, and glues, and converting equipment that can effectively process media,’ said Mr Weymans. ‘As the market continues to evolve, there are challenges ahead in terms of reduced lead times from concept to the store. This is combined with the drive toward higher quality.’
He continued, ‘In addition, there is the need for packaging to be food safe, with several variants of the same products produced in different quantities, resulting in the shorter run lengths that present a challenge for conventional printing technologies. That’s why it is crucial for packaging converters to invest in digital technologies. At the same time there are a variety of opportunities to create new business models, building a service around the package. So many opportunities and so many challenges, but where can you see everything together?’
This is the true value of Xeikon Café – the ability for visitors to observe an end to end digital workflow, learn how to efficiently and effectively incorporate digital technologies into the mix and ask questions relevant to their production process. Industry experts are also present to educate on market trends and the value of digital production. The event is the perfect setting for printers and converters to learn which tools and equipment are right for them, and how to efficiently and effectively incorporate these investments into their packaging production platform.
New applications
Many new applications will be on show to demonstrate what can be achieved with Xeikon’s technology. Mr Weymans said, ‘Our customers are always pushing the boundaries of digital printing capabilities, as suppliers continue to provide new workflow, substrates and finishing solutions that open up new opportunities. During our many successful years in the label and folding carton packaging industry, we notice these sectors are broadening, into lightweight unsupported films, stand-up pouches, corrugated liner and a fast-growing segment today for paper cups. We have a lot of interest here, and many requests from potential users. Some are very big opportunities, and we see some interest in replacing litho lam in corrugated – Xeiko-Lam!’
The hot topic of food safety will also be on the agenda. ‘Food safety is one of the core strengths of Xeikon’s dry toner technology: the toner is approved as food safe in Europe and North America, amongst other regions,’ explained Mr Weymans. ‘In fact, we have two customers in the Netherlands who have been producing lightweight (21 gsm) paper labels that are directly affixed onto cheese balls for many, many years! How much closer can you be to the food … It will actually be one of the applications on show. Another example is coffee cup production which is seeing strong growth in many regions in the world and we have sold several machines for this specific segment. We are seeing demand for cups themed for events that are being successfully produced by companies moving into digital production, making short runs economical.’
Building on success
In 2015, Xeikon Café attracted more than 800 attendees with representation from Asia, Europe and the Americas, including converters, brand owners and design agencies. In addition, approximately 30 industry suppliers from different segments demonstrated more than 15 live applications, ranging from popular self-adhesive and wet glue labels to folding cartons and paper cups.
Key Xeikon Aura partners expressed their appreciation of the value delivered by Xeikon Café, and are looking forward to the 2017 event.
Geert van Damme of CERM said, ‘Xeikon Café provides us with a great platform to showcase how our MIS systems integrate seamlessly into a wide variety of production environments. We will demonstrate how our software supports a range of print engines to truly deliver value.’
Peter Baird of Flint Group commented, ‘Our customers in the packaging and label market have been asking us frequently about how our products, such as varnishes, can be used with digital printed output. Providing samples and information that demonstrate this is one thing, but showing it live is priceless. It is our first time participating in the Xeikon Café, and we are confident the event will deliver against our expectations.’
David Hitch of Diamond Photofoil said, ‘We are a pioneer in heat transfer label decoration, an application that doesn’t really have an exhibition platform for us to illustrate its uniqueness and strength as a unique decoration method. We see Xeikon Café as an exceptional opportunity to demonstrate our capability to a broader audience and provide a deeper understanding of the concept to attendees.’
Partner network
Knowing how important information exchange and networking sources are, Xeikon built its own network of partner companies, the Xeikon Aura Partner Network. This is a robust and fully encompassing network that brings together the latest evolutions, innovations and solutions of all members.
Partners presenting at the event include, amongst others, AB Graphic International, Actega Terra, Advanced Track & Trace, Agfa Graphics, Argos Solutions, AVT, Bograma, Brotech Graphics, Cartes, Cerm, Diamond Photofoil, Esko, Flint Group, Grafisk Maskinfabrik (GM), Grafotronic, Highcon Systems, Hybrid Software, Iggesund Paperboard, Label Traxx, Lake Image Systems, Michelman, Meech International, Metsä Board, OneVision Software, Smag Graphique, Stora Enso, Treofan Germany, Xeikon Prepress and Yupo Europe.
Vice president of marketing at Xeikon, Filip Weymans
‘A range of live demonstrations will be run, for a variety of labels and packaging that are also clustered into vertical sectors,’ said Mr Weymans. ‘For example, for pharma where labels, lightweight leaflets and cartons will be produced with features including track and trace, or anti-counterfeit capability. In the beverage sector this could be wet glue, self-adhesive and wraparound labels, drink cartons and liner for a corrugated wine box producer, or for soft drinks or spirits. We are broadening the range of the solutions on show, also in confectionery, DIY, automotive and even in media, where we see Xeikon users producing vinyl record sleeves.
‘There will also be a business and technical conference programme running, and a series of open panel discussions toward the close of each day where key trends will be covered. Hence the café theme; we encourage open dialogue following the model of the discussions held in cafés across Belgium for many years.’
To register, please go to www.xeikoncafe.com.
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