Labelexpo Americas 2024 presents dynamic package printing industry

The 18th edition of Labelexpo Americas has closed on a high note, with a total of 450 exhibitors taking part in the show, which took place in Rosemont, Illinois.

Spread across five halls and covering over 185,000sqft of floor space, this year’s show themes focused on RFID technology, flexible packaging, sustainability and automation.

Labelexpo Americas 2024 showcased flexo, hybrid and digital press technology new to the US market, along with a wide range of finishing technology combining conventional and digital equipment and sustainable materials.

The show attracted a total of 12,215 attendees, who came from 73 countries, with a large number of attendees from North America, Mexico, Canada, Colombia and Brazil - overall international attendance increased by 33 percent from the last edition. Further increases were seen across the board, with more converters and almost double the number of brand owners and designers in attendance for this edition.

Highlights of Labelexpo Americas 2024 included a unique collaboration between ETI, Lundberg, Martin Automatic and Lemu Group demonstrating a complete label production line including robotic finished roll handling.

Demonstrating the return of flexo, Mark Andy launched its new P-series S9 press, engineered for both flexible packaging and labels markets. Using sleeve technology, the press will be available in a 22in as well as 26in format.

Nilpeter showed the mid-web FA-26 making its North American market debut following its launch at Labelexpo Europe last year.

ABG presented a wide range of equipment including a new shrink sleeve converting system and Turret Seaming Rewinder (TSR750).

Domino launched its K300 compact monochrome UV inkjet printer and presented a wide range of equipment, including N730i and N610i presses and K600i printbar.

Other new launches included Canon’s prototype water-based inkjet press, the LabelStream SL2000 and Durst’s Kjet hybrid press.

In the FlexPack @ Labelexpo zone, Gonderflex demonstrated its P-8009 GFXW single pass thermal laminator-coater incorporating a JetFX digital embellishment system.

Also featured was an RFID experience. Attendees were given the opportunity to learn more about the growth of RFID, see live demonstrations of how smart labels are produced as well as understand how data is stored, tracked and managed.

Labelexpo Americas 2024 was notable for the number of leads generated and equipment sold off the show floor.

Anna Niewiadomska, marketing manager for narrow web at Flint Group, commented: ‘Labelexpo is an event the entire industry eagerly anticipates. Flint Group’s booth was bustling with activity, and we had productive, insightful meetings with customers, as well as great networking opportunities to connect with potential partners. A big thank you to everyone who visited us! Also, big thanks to the Labelexpo Americas team for hosting yet another fantastic event. It was, as always, expertly organized and a great experience to participate in.’

Robert Rae, managing director of sales at GEW, added: ‘GEW enjoyed our return to Labelexpo Americas, in Chicago. We were delighted to see so much interest in our new UV LED product, AeroLED2, for the label and narrow web market, and we were delighted to turn much of this interest into orders. We were happy to see that the visitor numbers seemed higher than in 2022, with the quality of visitors remaining high. We look forward to returning to Labelexpo Americas in two years’ time.’

‘It has been great to be back in Chicago for this year’s Labelexpo Americas. The amount of new equipment on display this year was truly remarkable and we hope visitors also benefited from the educational and networking opportunities the show offered. I would like to thank all our exhibitors for your partnership and commitment in supporting the growth of the labels and package printing industry in North America. Thank you to all who visited, to TLMI and all our association and media partners. We are looking forward to returning in 2026 from 15 – 17 September,’ concluded Tasha Ventimiglia, group director for Americas at Labelexpo.

The full Labelexpo Americas 2024 show report will shortly be available to download from the show website.