A Successful PRINTING United Expo: A Look at the Sales

By Toni McQuilken

The following article was originally published by Printing Impressions. To read more of their content, subscribe to their newsletter, Today on PIWorld.

Note from the editor: This is an evolving story. As we learn of more sales in the coming days, we will add them below.

Last week, PRINTING United Expo in Las Vegas was a success, with 817 exhibitors covering an incredible 386,850 sq. ft. of space across two halls. The show was electric, with attendees from all over the world there to experience the cutting edge of the printing industry, checking out new equipment, software, consumables, and everything in between. Not to mention the robust slate of educational and networking opportunities packed into the three days.

PRINTING United Expo 2024

One of the ways to measure the true success of any trade show is to take a look at the sales made on the show floor. While not an exhaustive list by any measure, it is always great to see who is buying, what they're focusing on at the Expo, and how it is going to help them push their business forward for years to come.

RISO is one exhibitor that saw a massive amount of success. Andre D’Urbano, the company's vice president of sales, noted that RISO actually had a promotion to encourage people to stop by the booth and make a buying decision — this year, he noted, the Show Special was free inks, the amount of which varied by which model was purchased. And it paid off. This year at the show, the company signed deals for:

2 RISO Cut-Sheet Inkjet T2200 Valezus (320 Impressions per hour device)
9 RISO Cut-Sheet Inkjet T1200 Valezus (160 Impressions per hour device)
11 RISO Cut-Sheet Inkjet GL9730 (160 Impressions per hour device)
18 RISO Cut-Sheet Inkjet GL7430 (140 Impressions per hour device)
11 RISO Cut-Sheet Inkjet FT5230 (120 Impressions per hour device)
5 RISO Cut-Sheet Inkjet FT5000 ((108 Impressions per hour device)
28 RISO Digital Duplicator (includes MH9450 and MF9450)

That, D’Urbano notes, was a total of 84 deals signed on the show floor, and he expects the majority of them to close in the coming weeks as due diligence is completed. All in all, he noted, it was a busy show with a lot of traffic through the booth, and the numbers certainly don't lie.

Xerox PrimeLink

Another company with big wins at the show was Xerox. Although it didn't share specific numbers, Lisa Graham, business communications for Xerox Global Marketing, did note, "The Xerox team is pleased with the positive feedback and reception from clients at PRINTING United this year. In addition to interest in our newest entry-level color production press, the Xerox PrimeLink C9200 Series Production Color Press, our Iridesse and Versant 280 presses and suite of FreeFlow workflow automation software garnered strong attention from clients and visitors. We hosted back-to-back client meetings to discuss how Xerox offerings and our end-to-end production ecosystem can help increase productivity and improve client profitability. Following these meaningful conversations, we look forward to continuing relationships with our existing clients while providing necessary support and information to prospective clients who are interested in adopting Xerox’s print offerings. In addition to the sales made during the event, we anticipate closing numerous, additional deals across a variety of solutions showcased in our booth as a result of our show participation."

One big win for EFI at the show was the sale of the company's Q5r. The press was purchased by Taylor Visual Impressions, and is going to help position the company for expansion in the New York Metro area, notes Holly O'Rourke, EFI's worldwide director of corporate communications.

Raquel Caruso, marketing manager for Muller Martini, shared one of the big wins for the company, noting, "Muller Martini is pleased to announce the sale of our Prinova Digital Saddle Stitcher to BOPI, a leading print provider with more than 75 years of experience located in Bloomington, Illinois. This key decision to invest in our Prinova Digital Saddle Stitching technology provides ease of use, flexibility, and is the perfect solution providing extensive capability to satisfy both offset and complex digital finishing needs that will bring BOPI well into the future. BOPI reached the key decision to invest with Muller Martini to replace aging technology. The Prinova provides a breath of fresh air with its ease of use operation and an expansion path into digital finishing at the highest level."

Durst had several wins to share from the show floor. The first, Icon Digital, purchased the Durst Tau RSC E. In a statement about the purchase, Icon Digital noted, "Big news from the Durst Image Technology U.S. booth at PRINTING United Expo! Our CEO, Alex Christopoulos, is at the show with our friends from Durst to announce our newest investment ... to add a brand new label and packaging printer to our arsenal." The second major sale Durst is highlighting was to FireSprint, which purchased the Durst P5 350 HS D4. Durst sales manager, Don Cogswell, noted "They've [Firesprint] enjoyed tremendous growth since partnering with Durst and are excited to continue that success."

Eric Mills, with JPS Books and Logistics, proved that it's not just about the "big iron" being sold on the show floor, either. He signed a deal with Tony Tarpey, Presswise, for the company's Web-to-print and estimating software suite. Tarpey noted, "In the age of the internet and web demos, it shows the value in shows like PRINTING United where we can get face-to-face with customers and prospects and make meaningful connections. Customers like to know who exactly they are getting into business with."

Other sales from around the show floor included:

SAATI had Sold signs on several pieces of computer to screen equipment they had in the booth.
DocumentDataSolutions (DDS) sold it's iDataPrint solution to Specialty Print Communications (SPC), based in Niles, Illinois.
Durst sold the TAU RSC E to Grass Valley, California-based iGraphics.
Agfa sold an Anapurna Ciervo H3200 to 12k Digital Solutions, based in Miami, Florida.
TheMagicTouch sold equipment directly following a presentation in the Apparelist Live Theater, showing the power of education on the show floor.
PLASTGrommet sold several of its banner finishing systems on the show floor, including to Austin, Texas-based Buildasign; and Urbandale, Iowa-based Evolving Edge Graphics.
Fujifilm sold its Revoria Press PC1120 to Leader Graphics, based in Erie, Pennsylvania.
DigiTech sold it's UV flatbed printer to Yotta Sky, which has locations in Miami and Orlando, Florida; San Juan Puerto Rico; and most recently Atlanta, Georgia.
ROQ had a very successful show promotion, with marketing director Merrill Capps noting that while they can't provide exact numbers, "the booth had awesome traffic and we helped several established and new Partners alike #PressOnward, and we thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to connect with everyone at the show! We're very much looking forward to next year's edition."

And of course, with a show this large, spanning two different hall in the Las Vegas Convention Center, it would be impossible to highlight every success story from this year's event. But it's great to see the number of companies using this opportunity to fully explore all the technologies on display, and make strategic investments that will help drive their businesses forward. There is no one perfect investment, or strategy, or growth path that will work for every company. That's why events like PRINTING United Expo are so inspiring — seeing the sheer breadth of options, and the myriad of ways people use them to push the boundaries of print is one of the best parts of The Expo.

Have a sales win from The Expo you want to share? Drop me an email at tmcquilken@napco.com so we can celebrate alongside your team!