Every four years, Ipex draws together the world's printing industry at Birmingham's NEC. Like Germany's Drupa, it is a huge exhibition which showcases the entire spectrum of printing technology, from DTP software through to packaging and labelling machinery. It's an excellent - though also exhausting - way to find out what's happening in the industry, and even more significantly, what is likely to happen over the next few years.
or many years now, the global nature of the industry has been highlighted by the large number of exhibitors from outside Europe. Their presence was even stronger this time, with more than 4000 m2 allocated to companies from Asia alone. At the close of the show, more than 52 000 visitors had attended, of whom more than 40% were from outside the UK. Interestingly, this was significantly less than the 72 000 reported to have pre-registered for the show. The presence of international exhibitors was stronger than ever, with more than 4000 m2 allocated to companies from Asia alone.