appointments  Label Expo 
Labelexpo Americas 2004 which took place last month in Chicago, has been labelled ‘the best yet’ by the industry Nearly 13,000 visitors (up 5 per cent on the 2002 show) made the trip to Chicago and of them, nearly 20 per cent came from outside the USA, notably Brazil, Mexico, Japan, China and Australia. More than 400 industry suppliers exhibited this year, taking the opportunity to show off their solutions and to network with the key players in the global labelling industry. This year, Labelexpo drew new visitors from both the wider web flexible film converting and sheetfed printing sectors who were looking for information, ideas and technology solutions in narrow- to mid-web converting and product decoration.

Regular exhibitors Avery Dennison, BST Pro Mark, Gallus, Gidue, HP, Ko-pack, Mark Andy, Nilpeter, Omet, and PCMC all reported having had an excellent show.

The Labelexpo Americas 2004 Conference, held in association with TLMI, also proved to be a success with expert speakers presenting sessions on the latest industry trends and technologies to packed rooms.

For the keynote address, "The State of the Label Industry", given by Dan O’Connell, Raflatac president, there was standing room only. Other sessions that were particularly well attended included those on Smart Labels, RFID, Digital Printing, and The Future of Label Printing.

The Label Industry Global Awards took place on the first night of Labelexpo Americas, with over 600 people attending the Gala Dinner to see the winners announced of the R. Stanton Avery Lifetime Achievement Award; the Label Industry Award for Continuous Innovation; and the Label Industry Award for New Innovation.

Meanwhile, Chris Brannon of McDowell Label took the "Labelexpo Trail" and won a Harley Davidson motorcycle: the competition was a fun way to ensure visitors explore every corner of the show.

Among the exhibitors, Jakob Landberg of Nilpeter, said, "The sales bell rang 20 times on Nilpeter’s stand at Labelexpo Americas 2004. The show allowed us to successfully introduce a new flexo press concept, as well as gauge users’ acceptance of using servo drives, especially on our flagship MO-3300 offset platform press".

Mary Sullivan of Mark Andy, said, "Labelexpo Americas 2004 has been a great event for Mark Andy and Comco. Not only the perfect forum to launch the new XP5000, Labelexpo Americas has brought the industry together as no other event can. We are extremely happy to strengthen bonds with existing customers and suppliers, and to create new relationships that will certainly develop into long lasting partnerships into the future."

Meanwhile, John Bankson, TLMI president, said, "TLMI has been a proud sponsor of Labelexpo Americas since the show was launched more than 15 years ago. Through both its exhibition and conference programme, Labelexpo has been a valuable source of information about the new products and technologies that are changing the way we converters do business. We are happy to support a show that has done so much for our members and the industry as a whole."