Messe Düsseldorf and PEIAC to Introduce “Functional Printing China”

DÜSSELDORF, GERMANY—April 10, 2013—Messe Düsseldorf, the organzier of the world’s leading print and media trade fair, drupa, and the Printing and Printing Equipment Industries Association of China (PEIAC) will offer a new, dedicated platform for the topic of functional printing. The one-day conference “Functional Printing China,” with accompanying table-top presentations, will be held for the first time on May 16, 2013, during the China Print trade fair, which takes place from May 14-16, 2013, in Beijing. The new “Functional Printing China” will be held annually and will include an exhibition area starting in 2014. Conference participants can look forward to a first-class line-up of national and international specialists providing information on current trends, solutions and applications for functional printing and printed electronics. Speakers will include renowned experts such as Wolfgang Mildner (CEO of PolyIC and board member at the Organic Electronic Association/VDM), Stan Farnsworth (vice president NovaCentrix/USA) and Dr. Martin Schmitt-Lewen (senior manager for new print applications research and development at Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG).

“Functional printing in China is in the early stages of very promising developments,” stated Hans Werner Reinhard, deputy managing director of Messe Düsseldorf and chairman of Messe Düsseldorf China. “Be it in medicine, consumer electronics, in the field of packaging, be it on paper, film, metal, glass or other printing materials—the spectrum of applications for this 'bridge technology' opens up completely new markets.” A current study by the China Printing Technology Association forecasts a 21 percent growth in market volume to EUR 955 million between 2009 and 2016.

The topic of printed electronics already played an important role at drupa 2012. At the drupa innovation park and numerous stands, exhibitors presented innovations and application examples with a high market potential for a wide variety of industries. With the planned special show “PEPSO-Printed Electronics Products and Solutions,” Messe Düsseldorf focuses on this topic at seven of its relevant trade fairs for retail, glass processing, packaging, plastics, printing and medical technology. “As part of our strategy for our international product families, we want to establish a dedicated platform for functional printing on the Chinese market. In cooperation with our subsidiary Messe Düsseldorf China and PEIAC, we will gradually develop this topic, which increases in importance and opens up new potential business,” commented Sabine Geldermann, drupa director.

Source: Messe Düsseldorf.