The successful Sign Africa Mbombela expo, which took place on 22 February at Emnotweni Arena, attracted 201 visitors from Mozambique, Swaziland, Polokwane and all over Mpumalanga.
The event was well received by visitors and exhibitors. Visitors were inspired by the latest technologies and trends in printing, branding, T-shirt printing, vehicle graphics, direct to film and garment solutions, laser engraving, digital label printing and other cutting edge technology.
Exhibitor feedback was positive:
‘The expo was as we expected according to what the outcome was and the visitor turnout – and we were happy with that. We got quite a few big leads, so it’s been a positive show,’ said Tony Arriah, Stixo.
‘The show was great. It was a good experience and we had great customers and good feedback, all in all it was a great show,’ said Mike Allan, XLP Document Solutions, Roland dealer.
‘The interest from the Mozambique side impressed us tremendously. The other thing that impressed us is the apparent size of the print industry in this area, so it has been an eye opener. We’ve had tremendous successes always with our Intec cutting machines which was a point of interest. Many people came out and we had a lot of strong leads on that side. It was a fantastic show from our point of view,’ said Richard Bell, Intamarket.
‘There was a really good steady stream of people all day, we haven’t been quiet for a minute. The quality of visitors was wonderful, so it was a really good show for us, all in all,’ said Lynn van den Berg, Trotec.
‘It went well. We are happy because the main visitors who came to our stand knew what they wanted. We saw a lot of Mozambicans, as well as people from Swaziland, and the locals as well,’ said Aron Mudau, Curv.
‘I’m quite happy with the response we’ve had at the show. There were quite a few customers from across the borders and locally, and surprisingly a lot of people coming from Centurion. It was a good show and a good response. The market seems to be opening up again and hopefully this will be the trend for the rest of the year,’ said Dov Meyers, Chemosol
‘The quality of people that attended this year was really top notch. The turnout from Mozambique was the biggest, and then for the rest of the locals that came here, it was nice seeing them in an environment where we could sit and chat. People were really interested in the Mimaki CJV 150’s, and obviously our new Mimkai JV100. We sold a couple of laser machines, so we’re quite happy about that. We had a tremendous turnout at the event, and we loved it,’ said Carlos De Almeida, Crystalite Plastics.
‘The quality of leads we got was really phenomenal and we also got good exposure to the international customers – from Mozambique and Swaziland for instance. That has given us exposure that we wouldn’t have had under normal circumstances. We launched our desktop roll to roll DTF printer and that got a lot of attention because it is one of a kind in the market,’ said Laetitia Schreuder, Rexx Screen & Digital Supplies.
‘We did well, we had new clients coming in and meeting us, and we got some good leads from them,’ said Charl Ferreira, JG Electronics.
‘We saw quite a few customers from Maputo, Swaziland and Centurion. We were at the show to promote our Nelspruit branch and get our products into the branch to be able to service customers in the area as well as cross-border customers. The quality of customers I spoke to were good leads on which we can follow up, and I’m sure we will get a lot of business from them,’ said Francois Badenhorst-Rossouw, Kolok.
‘In entirety, it was a good day. What was the better part for us was the amount of customers that came from Mozambique, and that really made it successful for us, so we will see how it goes,’ said Trevor Norman, Maizey Plastics.
‘As always, the show was very professionally organised. We made a number of leads, and I think I’ve made some friends for life as well. It’s always a stunning event to attend, especially the event in Mbombela. A lot of people from Mozambique came through, and a lot of leads were generated from that area as well,’ said Lana Human, Printing SA.
‘We had an amazing show – we had the busiest stand at the show. We signed 17 machines and we got so many leads. It was really great,’ said Eckhardt Kröhnert, Fortune South Africa.
‘This is the first year that we have experienced as many Mozambican and foreign visitors coming from African states, and this is a testament to the fact that they are looking at new technology and new ways of doing things. I really appreciated that, and got many, many leads from them. We’re looking forward to doing business with them in the future,’ said David Thurman, Kemtek Imaging Systems.
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 large size
Winner: Roland DG South Africa
Sign Africa medium size
Winner: Stixo Signage Supplies.
Second: Crystalite Plastics.
Third place: Intamarket Graphics.
Sign Africa small size:
Tie first place: Curv Signage Systems and Rexx Screen & Digital Supplies.
Second: Trotec.
Third: JG Electronics.
Africa Print medium size
Winner: Kemtek
Africa Print small size
Winner: Midcomp
Second place: Printing SA
Be sure to add these expo dates to your 2023 calendar:
– Durban, 15-16 March 2023 (new dates), Durban ICC.
– Cape Town, 3-4 May 2023, CTICC.
– Johannesburg, 13-15 September 2023, Gallagher Convention Centre.
SIGN AFRICA EXPO
+27 11 568 1894
www.signafricaexpo.com
