The Sign Africa Expo, held last week at Gallagher Convention Centre, attracted 5274 visitors from 38 countries. The event was sponsored by Platinum sponsors Roland DG South Africa and Stixo Signage Supplies.
The top countries with visitors outside of South Africa included: Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Zambia, Namibia, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Congo, Ghana. Visitors could see new products and business opportunities in the world of wide format digital printing, vehicle wrapping, textile printing, signage, laser engraving, display, direct-to-film (DTF) printing, garment printing, screen and pad printing and other cutting edge technology.
Exhibitors had positive feedback about the event:
‘It was a really good event. Decision makers and technically-savvy people came through, and it was a really refreshing show,’ said Gary Stockenstroom, Canon South Africa.
‘Overall it was a really good show. We had lots of traffic over the three days. We saw lots of customers from across the border, such as Namibia, Zambia and Botswana. It was great meeting some of our clients who are using our products, and getting to engage with them. It was great to see the same faces that we see every year and to connect with everyone. The launch of the new ‘Girls Who Print’ was also one of the highlights. We had a fun stand and we had lots of fun with customers. I think we’ll definitely be back next year supporting our distributors,’ said Illisna O’Reilly, NUtec Digital Ink.
‘It was a great show and the foot count was amazing. The leads were also of great quality. Members that we interacted with during the show told us that they’re feeling optimistic about what the future holds. We’re very happy and we met with FESPA and we’re going to continue to do big things with FESPA. The show is a great platform for the industry,’ said Abisha Katerere, Printing SA.
‘It was great and we had a great turnout. We had the ‘Mini Me’ campaign, which showed workflow automation. And of course we did it in a fun way to try and have an interactive session with customers,’ said John Panton, ColorFlow Solutions.
‘The show was awesome, we had a lot of interest about the machines we had on our stand and it was nice to see colleagues from other companies, but also see what other businesses are doing and the new technologies that are coming out,’ said Kitty Mhlongo, Kemtek.
‘This year’s show was a success. We saw a number of up-and-coming companies that want to learn how to do wrapping and get into the mix. We also saw a nice mix of existing companies looking for new products to offer their clientele. I hope we educated people about some new techniques and new products in the market. We’re looking forward to coming back next year,’ said Richard Wood, Wrapssys.
‘This was the first time we exhibited – what a wonderful experience. The main objective of exhibiting was to get more leads to grow our company and we did that,’ said Jill Cupido, Central Crossing.
‘We had a great show, it was very busy. It’s almost as if the sales increase each year. It was 10 out of 10,’ said Nardus Mouton, Gencotech.
‘The show was phenomenal. It was our first show and it was way more than what we expected. It also exposed us to quite a few of the SADC countries – we had a lot of interest from visitors in Namibia, Zimbabwe and Botswana. We brought some nice, unique and innovative POS items to the market and that piqued visitors’ interest,’ said Garry Babich, Hookei SA.
Judges visited each stand at the expo and judged the stands according to criteria based on design, staff friendliness and professionalism. The results are as follows:
Sign Africa Small Shell Scheme:
Winner: LBY Africa.
Second: ColorFlow Solutions.
Third: Nantong Weiduo Display Equipment Manufacture Co.
Sign Africa Small Custom Stand:
Winner: Haining Jinmao Warp Knitting Co., Ltd.
Second: Lamin8 Films.
Sign Africa Medium Custom Stand:
Winner: ORAFOL South Africa.
Second: Titanjet.
Third: National Screen & Digital Supplies.
Sign Africa Large Shell Scheme:
Winner: Rexx Screen & Digital Supplies.
Sign Africa And FESPA Africa Best Large Custom Stand:
Winner: iPlastics.
Second: CNC Professional Machines and Engineering and Kolok.
Third: Maizey Plastics.
Sign Africa Best Mega Custom Stand:
Winner: Stixo Signage Supplies.
Second: Roland DG stand and Roland Speedwrap stand.
FESPA Africa Best Mega Custom Stand:
Winner: Mimaki.
Second: Allrich.
Third: Chemosol.
Africa Print Small Custom Stand:
Winner: Central Crossing.
Second: KYOCERA Document Solutions South Africa.
Third: XL Solutions and ZK Digimax.
Africa Print Small Shell Scheme:
Winner: Guangzhou Yinghe Electronic Instruments Co., Ltd.
Africa Print Medium Custom Stand:
Winner: Printing SA.
Second: Agfa.
Africa Print Large Custom Stand:
Winner: Canon South Africa.
Second: NUtec Digital Ink.
Third: Fortune Africa.
Africa Print Mega Custom Stand:
Winner: Sign-Tronic.
Second: Kemtek Imaging Systems.
Third: Ghongzheng South Africa.
Modern Marketing Small Shell Scheme:
Winner: Headwear 24/Twentyfour Store.
Third: Vantage Digital.
Modern Marketing Small Custom Stand:
Winner: Gawk.
Second: Edge Signage & Shopfitting Supplies.
Third: Signbox.
Modern Marketing Medium Custom Stand:
Winner: Skyco Media Solutions.
Second: Intexma and Curv Signage.
SIGN AFRICA EXPO
+27 11 568 1894
www.signafricaexpo.com
