After eight months on the road, 9.420 km traveled, seven cities visited, and almost a hundred attendees, Graphispag 2015 closed its tour of sectoral meetings in Barcelona with the realization that the printing industry faces 2015 with better prospects and eager repositioning itself in a new market, which has experienced “a sectoral tsunami” that has transformed its business model.
Organized in collaboration with the Gremi d'Indústries Gràfiques de Catalunya, this latest sectoral debate of Graphispag evidenced the enormous expectations that the fair has aroused among graphic entrepreneurs and the forced need to find spaces for the exchange of ideas, opinions and experiences. At the beginning of the event, the director of Graphispag, Aleix Planas, presented the offer and contents of this imminent edition that will take place from March 24 to 27.
The general secretary of the Gremi d'Indústries Gràfiques de Catalunya, Ricard Sànchez, highlighted the fact that, for the first time in these years of crisis, a greater number of companies were optimistic about the economic forecasts. The emeritus president of Graphispag, Miquel Heredia, corroborated this point and assured that credit is already beginning to flow, but that it is easier to access it to obtain liquidity than to make investments. Meanwhile, the CEO of EGM Laboratoris Color, Enric Galve, was convinced that the recovery has begun given that at the end of 2014 there was already a slight improvement in terms of orders.
For his part, the CEO of Comart, Ernest Ginjaume, was also optimistic and stressed that the client now places smaller and more urgent orders, while the consumption of cardboard among exporting companies has increased. The director of Cartonajes Ribas, David Castel, confirmed this fact and pointed out the difficulty of recovering the margins of the years prior to the crisis. Also the manager of Samagraf, Rafael Pardo, foresaw a better 2015, especially if the bank helped with credit and the printing companies stopped competing by lowering prices. The manager of Impremta Orriols, Jacint Orriols, explained the good results obtained last year by his company and the increase in orders they have appreciated. However, from Encuadernaciones Bardenas, Javier Cortés, disagreed with the signs of improvement.
The general secretary of Graphispack Association, Ignasi Cusí, spoke of the difficulty of limiting the activity of the graphic industry when printing is already cross-sector. Meanwhile, for the director of Cayfosa, Paco Mancebo, the transversality of graphic arts and the diversity of specialties mean that the real importance of the sector is not recognized. Similarly, the director of Plastificados GPM, Francesc Giménez, vindicated the value of the daily work carried out by graphic companies. The manager of Bramona Serveis Gràfics, Albert Bramona, encouraged graphic entrepreneurs to listen to the new generations to intuit what the future will be like and to offer the client innovation and value-added products that dismantle negotiations based solely on price.
Furthermore, the Podium consultant, Eugènia Àlvarez defended the greater impact of the printed product if it is combined with campaigns on other channels and that crossmedia can be an opportunity for growth. The director of the Large Format Division of Epson Ibérica, Óscar Visuña, detailed the responsibility of the suppliers to explain and show the applications of the technology but, above all, to accompany the client in the development of their business model. In the same way, the business development director of Roland DG Iberia, Encarna Luque, considered that Graphispag's commitment to show graphic applications can inspire complementary businesses for graphic companies.
The vice president of the Gremi d'Indústries Gràfiques de Catalunya, Joan Nogués defended the important role of the fairs and encouraged to take advantage of Graphispag to face the future. With the same opinion, the director of PrintMakers, Fermí Estivill, referred to the forced change of mentality in the sector. Finally, Ricard Sànchez, drew the scenario as a consequence of the "sectoral transformation tsunami", aggravated by the economic crisis.
