For the first time, residents in the Free State can look forward to the Sign Africa Expo. Bloemfontein is one of the Sign Africa Roadshow destinations for 2012 and will be in town this week. This RoadShow is aimed at providing business opportunities, equipment and consumables in your region.
The expo, which takes place at Kiepersolrant on Wednesday 30 May, will have exciting displays and information on the latest developments within the signage, display and printing industries, together with business opportunities including photobooks, t-shirt printing, banners and flags as well as brand new innovations in wide format technology like the new Roland and Mimaki printers.
Roland, one of the sponsors of the Sign Africa RoadShows, will showcase its latest VersaArt RE-640 machine for durable graphics printing. The VersaArt RE-640 allows you to express your artistic vision beautifully with the superior imaging of its newest print head technology, featuring variable droplet control.
The new Mimaki latex printer, the JV400-160LX, was recently launched overseas and will be on display for the first time in South Africa in Bloemfontein. The JV400-160LX features newly developed environmentally friendly latex ink. This printer is the world’s first latex printer using white ink, which makes it a revolutionary inkjet printer that blends the flexibility of solvent printing with the durability of UV-cured inks.
Maizey Plastics will be hosting a practical stand where you can discover the exciting range of Plexiglas products and learn valuable working and fabrication skills from the experts. Attendees will have the opportunity to try their hand at some of the techniques demonstrated under the guidance of factory trained experts. And, for those who are up for a challenge, try your hand at wrapping a vehicle door. If you think it’s easy, then visit the Roland Wrap Off stand to try your luck.
Visitors will be able to see the following brands on the day: Roland, Avery Dennison, Mimaki, Hewlett Packard, Maizey Plastics and Falcon, to name but a few.
Moreover, the RoadShow is not only targeted at sign makers, display companies, digital printers, commercial printers, marketing and advertising agencies, brand and product teams, media owners, retail merchandising managers, creative directors, graphic designers and architects, but at entrepreneurs interested in exploring new business opportunities.
You will be able to see products and services for signage and sign systems, digital printing, banners and flags, photobooks, photo’s on mugs, dye sublimation, screen printing, inks, paper, vinyls and substrates, laminating and finishing, display and directional signage systems, routers and engraving, magnetic sheets, laser cutting and engraving, equipment to print on T-shirts, and digital signage.
Visitors can also look forward to informative PIFSA workshops. Topics such as an overview of labour legislation, contracts of employment, terms and conditions and environmental legislation affecting the printing industry will be discussed.
Expo organisers, Practical Publishing, are excited to visit the city, as Bloemfontein is renowned for being a hub of activity. ‘We are looking forward to visiting Bloemfontein for the first time and believe the expo will attract not only local visitors, but also visitors from other provinces, especially the Northern Cape’, says Charnia Yapp, Organiser of the Africa Print and Sign Africa RoadShows. ‘The expo is proudly sponsored by Xerox, Avery Dennison and Roland,’ she added.
The RoadShow will also be visiting Cape Town in June. Earlier this year the expo visited Nelspruit and Durban with the international exhibition in Johannesburg from 22-24 August. Last year’s expo in the City of Gold attracted over 6 300 visitors, making it the best attended show to date.
No entrance fee will be charged, and all workshops are free of charge. Doors are open from 9am to 5pm. You can pre-register at www.signafricaexpo.com.
‘Be sure to diarise this exciting show, and see how you can improve your service offering to your clients’, concludes Yapp.
