Now entering its sixth year in the trade show circuit, the Converting & Package Printing Expo (CPP Expo) is billing itself as the premiere event for professionals in the market, a landscape that includes flexible packaging, folding carton/boxmaking, corrugated converting, tissue converting and narrow web/tag and label making.

At CPP Expo, exhibitors will demonstrate the evolution of new technologies across the packaging landscape, including digital pre-press and packaging printing workflow solutions, through finishing processes, such as slitting, rewinding, coating and laminating. This year’s CPP Expo will cover 25,000 square feet in the lower level of the Las Vegas Convention Center's South Hall (or Street Level), next to the sold-out Brand Zone.

Show management anticipates 20,000 attendees at this year’s event, some 2,300 of whom are decision makers making the rounds at CPP Expo. Historically, 60% of show attendees are involved in packaging machinery and related services; 15% are involved in package printing, machinery and related supplies/services; and the remaining 15% work with processing machinery and related supplies and services.

As in previous years, CPP Expo 2009 is again co-located this year with Pack Expo and Process Expo at the Las Vegas Convention Center, running Oct. 5-7. This co-location strategy, say show organizers, allows attendees to better observe the full supply chain of the packaging industry in one place. Since 2005, CPP has co-located with Pack Expo, and the extensive marketing and promotional efforts that go into Pack Expo help boost CPP’s prominence, allowing it to offer more insight into the package printing segment of the industry. N

QUICK FACTS

What: Converting & Package Printing Expo, co-located with Pack Expo and Process Expo
When: Oct. 5-7, 2009
Where: Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nev.
Contact: 201-881-1658
Visit: www.cppexpo.com

Keynote presentations, conference to focus on package performance, sustainability and economics

The Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Institute (PMMI), sponsor and producer of co-located Pack Expo, will hold a conference under the theme of “Maximizing Performance, Sustainability & Economics.” Noting the proliferation of private label products in the current economic environment, the program will feature keynote addresses focusing on the private label market, supported by more than 50 sessions on an array of issues affecting today’s packaging professionals.

Conference sessions are organized into several tracks, including: Branding, Converting, Digital Package Printing, Economics, Intelligent Coding, Legal Landscape, Materials, Processing, Sustainability, Sustainable Operations and Vision Systems. Conference sessions run concurrently in four time slots, allowing show-goers to attend up to four sessions per day while keeping their show commitments.

Doug Palmer, vice president over in-house brands at The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, will give the opening keynote presentation on Oct. 5. Palmer’s address, entitled “Future of Retailer Packaging and Branding – The A&P Story,” will explore three key elements needed to launch and sustain a strong retail brand: quality product, innovative packaging and the brand itself. Several case studies will be cited, including the introduction of A&P’s Via Roma product line, to demonstrate how to build value into a private brand.

Two other prominent retailers will lead conferences at Pack Expo keynote presentations. On Oct. 6, Andrew Abraham, vice president for in-store brands for Supervalu, will challenge packaging suppliers, contract packagers and designers to bring innovative technologies and concepts to the burgeoning private label sector. On Oct. 7, Steve Ryder, store design and planning director for Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, and Kevin O’Donnell, founder of Thread Collaborative, will provide a behind-the-scenes look at how Fresh & Easy has established itself in the U.S. and its commitment to engage consumers in new ways.

Pack Expo
703-243-8555; www.packexpo.com