GRAPHITEC 2011 : Huge success for the graphics industry: business at the forefront!

Press release 14 June 2011

GRAPHITEC, the Graphic Chain exhibition, from multichannel to printed material, was held at the Paris Porte de Versailles exhibition centre, in pavilion 4, from Tuesday, June 7th to Friday, June 10th, 2011.

Now held every two years, GRAPHITEC met with great success!

The 2011 event confirmed recovery in the printing and graphics industries with the participation of all the market players and the attendance of visitors with purchasing projects.

This edition gathered 169 exhibitors, represented companies and brands, and delivered 11, 076 trade visitors over four days, a 4% increase versus 2009.

Visitors came from all parts of France: 55% from the Paris area and 45% from other regions. 45% of visitors were print buyers and 43% were printing companies.

Substantial business opportunities for the printing-related industries

Exhibitors had prepared their participation in the exhibition very professionally. With specific and targeted initiatives implemented ahead of the event, the exhibition helped them develop customer loyalty and win orders.

For Philippe Pelletier, Deputy Marketing Director, Canon France: "It is important to be present at this event. Success lies in the involvement of teams in the exhibition preparation. The sales achieved on the stand were higher than at GRAPHITEC 2009."

Nicolas Masson, Sales Director, O2i, said: "We are very satisfied with the exhibition. O2i will sign up without hesitation for our participation in Graphitec 2013.Graphitec is a key moment for us. This is where we have prepared our business for the second half of the year. "

For Marie Paule Flory, Marketing Manager, Kodak: "We have been very pleased since the very first day. We overshot our objectives in terms of sales and contacts. At Kodak France, we believe that out of respect for our customers we have to participate in Graphitec. One year after DRUPA, it will be important to be present at Graphitec in 2013 ."

For Patrick Vreven, CEO of GamSys:"Obviously, printing companies are looking for new tools and solutions. A huge return on investment – our investment was paid back on the very first day. The visibility provided by the exhibition is crucial ." 

For David Watson, Marketing Director, Agfa France: "In two words: Very satisfied! We met our customers. The number and quality of visitors were higher than in 2009. Important number of contacts and also, of course, of orders. The "face to face" aspect is very important, it's one of Graphitec's key advantages ."

Innovation at the forefront

With nearly 50 announced launches, 6 of which were presented in world preview, the exhibition fulfilled its promise.

Enhanced visibility was given to the exhibitors' innovations with the "Place des nouveautés" initiative.

According to Hervé Brandt, Sales Director, Fuji Film Graphic Systems France: "Customers are eager to see machines in operation. The " coup de cœur” New Product Award given by the Graphitec’Xperts committee to one of our products was a tremendous booster. Graphitec remains a great medium to win orders. Our responsibility as a major supplier is also to present the industry with the trends and new developments in our sector."

The exhibition remains a tool for winning sales and market shares, but also serves to reinforce cohesion within the company.

According to Catherine RESSUGE, Communications Director, KOMORI France:

"A little tired, but delighted! GRAPHITEC helped us further strengthen team cohesion: Our sales teams are happy and our technical teams are proud to be instrumental in our success, despite the intense work generated by the stand installation and management. We chose to exhibit a latest-generation offset press, because it was important to show for real the actual added value provided by our technical solutions. The Japanese president of Komori Europe who attended the exhibition could see its relevance and large attendance. He was even present when orders were concluded on the stand.
21 large format offset groups had been ordered on Friday morning."

Involvement of public authorities

At UNIC's instigation Eric Besson, the Minister of industry, energy and digital economy, officially visited the exhibition, gaining a comprehensive insight into the exhibitors' expertise and new products. During his visit Eric Besson announced a scheme to enhance the printing industries' competitiveness worth € 750,000 over three years in the form of subsidies for collective initiatives which will be 50 percent funded by the Ministry of industry.

For Pascal BOVERO, General manager of UNIC : « The "Campus des Imprimeurs" symbolises the  closer relation of UNIC and its partners with GRAPHITEC.
The mixed and hybrid caracter of the solutions shown on the stands met our members expectations. Our members came from all the different regions and often together with their colleagues. We noticed that the visitors had prepared their visit. »

A word from Véronique Sestrières, Exhibition Manager:

What is your assessment of the exhibition after these four days?

All indicators were green before the exhibition, a higher number of visitors came … the results confirm that the printing-related industries are picking up!

The whole graphic industry chain was well represented, the industry leaders were present and more than 100 new products and solutions were announced. Visitors came with purchasing projects, and the public authorities were there as Mr Eric Besson visited the exhibition at UNIC's invitation. All this confirmed the printing and graphic industry's dynamics and its capacity to innovate to meet its customers' and prospects requirements always more efficiently.

Another conclusion drawn from this 13th edition: Graphitec reflected the new face of the graphic industry, i.e. the perfect complementarity of the different printing processes and the combination of new technologies and machines.

A world where the machines' intelligence is aimed at a single objective: customer satisfaction in a multichannel world.

Congratulations and many thanks to all the industry players for the success of their now biennial trade event.

Look to the next edition in June 2013 for a new 360-degree vision of innovative printing!

(14th edition of Graphitec – June 2013 – Paris Porte de Versailles)

Press Contacts :
Stéphanie DRYANDER
Tél : +33 (0)1 76 77 12 80 -  stephanie.dryander@comexposium.com