For the very first time in the country, All India Federation of Master Printers (AIFMP) hosted the World Print & Communication Forum (WPCF) Conference & board meeting on the side-lines of PAMEX 2020.
The WPCF conference was held at the Ballroom of Westin Garden City, Mumbai on 8 January 2020. The Theme of the conference was Redefining Printing- a Discussion with World Leaders. Speakers from USA, Belgium, South Africa, Japan, China & India. The one-day event saw more than 150 delegates coming from across the world.
The conference was divided into two technical sessions and both were moderated by Prof. Dr. Rajendrakumar Anayath, VC Deenbandhu Cho Ram University of Science and Technology.
The inaugural session of the conference was held by Prof. Kamal Chopra, Chairman PAMEX. He was joined by Mr. Raveendra Joshi, Chairman Organizing Committee- WPCF, Mr. Dibyajoyti Kalita, President AIFMP and Prof. Dr. Rajendrakumar Anayath. They set the tone of the conference and explained what the delegates were in store for the day.
The first technical session was conducted by Mr. Narendra Paruchuri, Chief Managing Director- Pragati Offset Pvt Ltd and the winner of the prestigious Virren Chabbra Print Leadership Award (VCPLA). He spoke about the journey of printing through the years and the scope of printing in the future. His presentation was aptly titled “Printing- Kal, aaj aur Kal”. He emphasised on the need for printers to join together and collaborate to grow. He also urged to go green and use bio-degradable materials in the printing and packaging industry.
Mr. Sukhdev Singh of Colgate Palmolive then gave a presentation on “Get Print-ready to deliver Branded Packaging in India.” He spoke about the tremendous growth in the printed packaging sector and how there is a need for printers to provide the complete solutions of branding to their customers.
The next presentation was given by Mr. Kaz Arai, General Manager- Public Relations, The Japan Federation of Printing Industries. He spoke about the state of the printing industry in Japan and how there is a paradigm shift happening in the industry. He spoke about the importance of moving towards smart factories and how automation is essential to increase the efficiency of the presses.
Mr. Abdool Mahjed Mahmood, CEO – Printing SA then spoke about the challenges the printing industry was facing in South Africa.
Ms. Chang Xiaoxia, Vice President, The Printing Technology Association of China & General Manager, Beijing Keyin Media & Culture Co., Ltd. gave a presentation on “The Present Situation & Transformation Trend of the Printing Industry in China.” She presented an in-depth scenario of the Chinese market, the trends and the opportunities.
Mr. Kaz Arai came back to end the first technical session with a talk on “Current Trends in the Japanese Printing Industry and the direction it needs to move in the future.”
The second Technical Session started with a presentation from Ms. Beatrice Klose, Secretary General- INTERGRAF. She spoke on the trends in the European Market and the challenges they are facing due to the legislation passed by EU. She noted how package printing has overtaken graphic printing in Europe and how the future lies in packaging. She also spoke about the lack of skilled professionals in the printing industry.
Prof. Dr. Anayath then gave a presentation on behalf of Mr. Marcus Heering, MD- The German Association of Printing and Paper. The topic of his presentation was “Status Quo and the upcoming trends for the Printing Industry.” He spoke on the 4 major trends running currently in Europe- Artificial Intelligence, Connected Customer, Platform Economy and Circular Economy.
Dr. Ashutosh Tripathy R&D Group, Natural Centre for Flexible Electronics, IIT Kanpur gave an interesting presentation on “Printed Electronics- Challenges and opportunities for India.” He highlighted the opportunities in the segment of Flexible Electronics for the printing industry.
Mr. Michael Makin, President & CEO-Printing Industries of America spoke about the state of the Printing Industry in USA and the challenges they were facing. He gave an update on the macroeconomic condition of the industry. The print markets and the forecasts. Key opportunities and Challenges of the printers and the Outlook of the industry in 2020.
The conference ended with a question-answer and audience interaction session.
“The conference has been spectacular. It helped in realising importance and difficulties of different print markets and initiated healthy discussions,” said Michael Makin, President& CEO, Printing Industries of America.
“I congratulate the team of AIFMP and Print-Packaging.com for organising such a wonderful Conference. Such conferences help printers and suppliers add a lot to their knowledge,” concluded Dayaker Reddy, President, IPAMA.
