FESPA has confirmed three new features in 2024 – Digital Signage Lounge, Personalise Make Wear, and the Sportswear Pro Conference – as well as the returning Personalisation Experience Conference, World Wrap Masters, Sustainability Spotlight, and Club FESPA Lounge. The features will run alongside this year’s FESPA Global Print Expo and the co-located European Sign Expo, Personalisation Experience, and Sportswear Pro events (19-22 March, 2024, at RAI Amsterdam, The Netherlands).
European Sign Expo 2024 will host the all-new Digital Signage Lounge, a networking hub created for visitors to explore the wealth of business opportunities associated with digital signage. The lounge, which is run in partnership with Navori Labs and Grupo Metal (Johnson Group), will highlight advancements in the digital sign sector, showcase the latest digital screens and software, and offer expert advice. Visitors to the Digital Signage Lounge will also gain free online access to the ‘FESPA How to Guide’, a must read for any printer exploring digital signage as an added business offering to their customers. Daily workshops, run by digital signage experts, will also take place each afternoon.
Also new in 2024, and part of Personalisation Experience and Sportswear Pro, is the Personalise Make Wear smart factory. Hosted by FESPA’s Textile Ambassador Debbie McKeegan, the smart factory will demonstrate the end-to-end production of personalised sportswear garments across four workflows. These include direct-to-garment production of polyester training tops, using print and software solutions from Antigro and Kornit; roll-to-roll production of yoga pants, using design, print, and finishing solutions from Antigro, Caldera, Greentex, MS Group, Coldenhove, Kleiverik, Tajima, and Dekken; direct-to-object printing on water bottles, using solutions from InkCups; and direct-to-film transfers for sweatpants, using design, print, and finishing solutions from Antigro and Stahls.
Visitors will be able to attend guided end-to-end production tours of the workflows and daily catwalk runway shows.
In addition, Debbie McKeegan will host fireside chats on topics including ‘The Smart Factory and Customisation Technology Explored’; ‘How to Implement Sustainable Manufacturing at any Scale’; ‘Personalised Production – Opportunities, Challenges and Solutions’; and ‘The Market Shifts and Technologies Driving Print Workflow Automation’, with representatives from Inkcups Europe, Kornit Digital, Caldera, SEI Laser, Dover Industries Italy, and JK Group.
The popular Sustainability Spotlight feature returns this year and will run in conjunction with Reboard and Carbon Quota. The feature will highlight more than 100 eco-conscious graphics and textiles substrates, while giving visitors the opportunity to learn about more sustainable production processes.
Materials on display will include natural and cellulosic fibre types which, when combined with social initiatives across Africa and Asia, make smaller volumes more cost effective. This is particularly useful because, while Europe is a key generator of new fibre types, the difficulty in scaling these up into other countries is challenging.
Each substrate on display will include an information card so participants can learn about its sustainable attributes and how it can be used to produce innovative, environmentally conscious products. Visitors will also be able to access the free Sustainability Spotlight content catalogue after they have attended. Content in the catalogue includes blogs, podcasts, and interviews from global brands and experts, exploring themes such as certification schemes, energy reduction, and more.
Additionally, the World Wrap Masters Europe and World Wrap Masters Series Final will return this year in conjunction with Orafol, Arlon, TeckWrap, and Wrapstock.
The first and second days of the high-adrenaline event, will see up to 30 wrappers compete in a mixture of rounds, using colour change media (sponsored by Arlon), paint protection film (sponsored by TeckWrap), and printed media (sponsored by Orafol) for a chance to progress to the global final, taking place on days three and four. Winners from World Wrap Masters regional competitions from Brazil, Denmark, Japan, Norway, and the UAE, will be welcomed for the competition final, judged by vehicle wrap experts Kiss Lajos, winner of the 2014 and 2015 competitions; Ivan Tenchev, winner in 2022; and guest MC Ole Solskin.
Additionally, for the second year running, expert trainers from The Wrap Institute (TWI) will host a series of training workshops and live demos including ‘Protocol for Perfectly Prepping a Vehicle for Wrapping’; ‘The Most “Cutting” Edge Tools for PPF, PVC and Tint’; ‘Why and How To Make Inlays’ – and many more.
New and returning conference programmes
The Sportswear Pro conference (21 March, 2024) will be dedicated to manufacturing, production, and circularity across the sportswear supply chain. Some of the expert speakers for the conference include Samantha Taylor, Founder of The Good Factory; Ana Kristiansson, Founder and Creative Director of Desinder; Serena Bonomi, Circular Economy Strategy and Innovation Advisor; Thomas Rothery, Director and Fashion-Tech Consultant at Copper Global; Paul Foulkes-Arellano, Founder of Circuthon Consulting; and Katarzyna Klara Sulisz, Sustainability Policy Officer at FESI (Federation of the European Sporting Goods Industry).
For the second year running, the Personalisation Experience conference (20 March, 2024) will offer insight and inspiration to visitors about the value of including personalised products in their offering.
Confirmed speakers for this year’s programme include Richard Askam, FESPA’s Personalisation Experience Ambassador; Neil Reynolds, Assistant Producer RL, Football & NFL at Sky Sports; Matt Bailey, Glazer Corp; Justin Cairns, Head of Production (Offline) at Ogilvy; Dans Rozenthals, Printful; and Bernd Zipper, Founder & CEO of zipcon consulting.
Michael Ryan, Head of FESPA Global Print Expo, comments: “By attending our features, visitors are guaranteed to enhance their industry knowledge, learn about the latest industry trends, and be inspired by other printers and visual communicators. Our brand-new Digital Signage Lounge and Personalise Make Wear features are set to be insightful and impactful, while our popular Sustainability Spotlight and World Wrap Masters events will be enjoyed by first-time and returning visitors alike. Additionally, our Personalisation Experience and Sportswear Pro conference programmes will give visitors even more of an opportunity to learn, network, and maximise their business growth. This year, there’s truly something for everyone and we can’t wait to share the experience with visitors.”
For further information about the feature programme, visit www.fespaglobalprintexpo.com/whats-on
