Taking the lead from trends evidenced on the show floor at Pack Expo Las Vegas, the upcoming APPEX 2024 show will be a smorgasbord of innovation in sustainability, digitalisation, and automation.
There's no doubt that sustainability will be the over-arching theme – at Pack Expo this permeated every discussion with material suppliers, and it was on the agenda for machinery and equipment providers too, with energy saving and automation efficiency motivated in large part by sustainability goals, and with new packaging technology developed to accommodate shifts to more sustainable materials.
For a snapshot of some of my early observations from the showfloor, click here.
Pack Expo was a resounding success, attracting 32,000 visitors to engage with 2300 exhibitors, delivering the largest ever edition of the Las Vegas show. Similarly, APPEX, which is 50 per cent larger than its predecessor event AUSPACK, will set a new standard for the biggest packaging and processing expo in our region.
Owner of APPEX, the Australian Packaging and Processing Machinery Association (APPMA), participated at Pack Expo in partnership with US counterpart association PMMI. During the three-day event, APPMA CEO Michael Moran and marketing manager Denni Egan connected with potential exhibitors and visitors to APPEX.
APPMA CEO Michael Moran said, "Interest in APPEX was high, not just for the 2024 event, but for the potential to participate in APPEX in years to come. This was heartening to experience, and to see that APPEX has the potential to put our region on the global trade show map.
"Pack Expo was a great opportunity to not only support PMMI, and strengthen our partnerships with other industry associations also on the pavilion, like PPMA and UCIMA," he added.
While the show did not have many Australian exhibitors, North American operations with ties to Australia were participating, with familiar names like Heat and Control, Amcor, Cama, TNA, Tetra Pak, JBT, Proseal, PackSize, WestRock, Morrison (now linked to Tronics), BWI, Packing With Robots, Case Packaging Systems, Rotzinger, Robopac and many more among them.
It was great to see some Australian-made technology on the show floor too, and over on the Amcor stand, the HMPS ProPac team were delighted with the crowds gathering around the Amcor ProPac Liquiflex VFFS system.
I also made some new acquaintances with Aussie links. On the stand of Canadian based BeRobox, I spoke to CEO and founder, David Demers. BeRobox has developed a fully mobile cobot powered palletising solution, which it claims is the simplest, most easy-to-use palletiser on the market. With a 20kg payload, and user-friendly layer-pattern forming software, the unique product certainly has wide appeal. It requires no programming or technical skills to implement and operate. The solution is available in Australia via an exclusive distribution arrangement with Foodmach, who launched the Instant Palletiser earlier this year and who will almost certainly be bringing it to APPEX.
Speaking to Australians I bumped into on the show floor, everyone was "pumped" for APPEX next year, and looking forward to see the latest trends and tech playing out over the four-day event from 12-15 March in Melbourne next year.
According to show organiser Exhibitions & Trade Fairs, the show is close to being sold out, but there are a few last spaces up for grabs, although they're selling fast, so don't miss out. Contact Abby Ford to secure your spot e: aford@etf.com.au
