Print4All Conference, great participation and satisfaction from supporters and the public for an appointment with the world of printing capable of involving the entire supply chain
Over 300 operators, 26 speakers, 15 supply chain associations, 50 delegates from 17 European and non-European countries are the numbers that characterized the 2024 edition of the Print4All Conference, which took place last 11 July at Villa Quaranta, an exceptional location in the Valpolicella, Italy. A result that confirmed the growing success of this event as a fundamental stage on the road to Print4All 2025, the printing and converting fair which will take place from 27 to 30 May 2025. The Conference is, in fact, increasingly establishing itself among the events of the supply chain most awaited by the market.
The just concluded edition presented by Enrico Barboglio, CEO of Stratego Grop and Leonardo Venturi, saw greetings from the two presidents of the organizing associations: Daniele Barbui, Acimga, and Antonio Maiorano, Argi, and from Paolo Pizzocaro, Fiera Milano, exhibition director of Print4All . Both Barbui and Maiorano underlined the intention to increasingly strengthen the collaboration between the two associations to grow an event that has become a hub for aggregation between players as a hub for aggregation between players in the printing and converting supply chain. This is demonstrated concretely by the presence at the event of the main Italian sector associations such as Assocarta, Assografici, ATIF, Comieco, ENIP-GCT, Federazione Carta e Grafica, Fespa Italia, GIFASP, GIFCO, GIFLEX, GIPEA, TAGA ITALIA, Unione GCT of the Metropolitan City of Milan – and international entities such as ERA (European Rotogravure Association) and Global Print who gave their endorsement to the event; the newspapers in the printing and converting sector, which offered their media partnership, and an important number of sponsors who contributed to the success of the Print4All Conference 2024.
Pizzocaro described Print4All as an event dedicated to business and knowledge and the Print4All Conference as a moment to verify the state of its reference market. He then anticipated the innovations that will characterize the next edition of the fair.
If at the opening of the event we talked about the essentiality of printing in the life of the individual, the speech by Michele Bianchi, president of the Federazione Carta e Grafica, translated into numbers the value of the printing sector equal to 27.2 billion euros of turnover, 16,119 companies and 160,600 employees. “An excellence of our country which constitutes an important share of the national GDP equal to 1.3%” – stated the president of Federazione.
In going into detail on the market results for 2023, Bianchi helped those present to give the correct interpretation of the data of a sector, which despite having shown a negative trend of -13.4% with the sole exception of the machinery segment which recorded a +3.6%, must be considered in light of an unprecedented context. The pandemic first, the resulting shortage of materials, the increase in energy prices and destoking are factors that allow us to affirm that the sector is reacting well. So much so that the first data collected in 2024 seem to show an improvement.
Stefano Portolani, Senior Analyst of the Centro Studi Printing of Stratego Group, delved into the market analysis with an update compared to the data presented during the other usual appointment of the year with the world of printing and converting, the Printing Economic Forum. A now consolidated meeting where the results of the analysis of the financial statements of the printing and paper converting companies that are part of the “Big della Stampa” are also revealed
Artificial intelligence and technology were the topics that entertained the audience at the Print4All Conference in the heart of the day. The speech on AI was given by Andrea Camisani, CTO of Camozzi Automation, who described the impact of artificial intelligence on industrial automation. Pat McGrew offered the audience a compelling overview of the latest trends in the technological, application and strategic fields revealed by his privileged observatory as an international sector analyst. A useful review for printing companies to evaluate future investments in terms of flow and technology.
Reinforcing the technological contents of the day were the LABs, held by printing equipment vendors, who were able to propose to the participants a specific theme of their choice explored in depth in a dedicated area.
Two round tables then animated the afternoon of the Print4All Conference with a comparison of the supply chain, the first between agencies and brands while the second saw the contribution of leading printers in various sectors, from corrugated cardboard to flexible packaging, from large format printing to commercial and high-end cases. The common denominator of the two meetings was the central role of the press and of the latest generation technologies in making effective and impactful communication possible.
A Print4All Conference that certainly left its mark and above all underlined the need for discussion and collaboration between players in a rapidly evolving sector to face future changes and challenges together.
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