Mumbai — The Second Edition of ‘Screen Print Sri Lanka’ Expo (22—24 June 2018) was concluded at Sri Lanka Exhibition & Convention Centre (SLECC) in Colombo. Sri Lanka being an emerging market, the exhibition received good response.
There were 40+ stalls, representing over 200 global brands. The products and services on display were related to screen printing, textile printing, sublimation printing, and digital printing and signage. Besides Sri Lanka, products and services from India, China, Japan, Thailand, S. Korea, France, Germany, Turkey, Taiwan, USA, etc, were on display.
Upon interaction, some of the visitors who are leading textile printers in Sri Lanka, said that the Screen Print Sri Lanka was a great opportunity to explore new technologies and see live demonstrations of different garment decoration techniques, the traditional screen printing, new age DTG, heat transfer vinyl films, sequin and stone motif machines, sublimation printing, textile embossing, tagless label printing by Pad printing process, etc.
For the Indian exhibitors such as Skyscreen, Lakshmi Bio Chem, TechNova (exhibited through local dealer), Hi-Tech Marketing, Chola Heat Press Machines (exhibited through local dealer), and Varsha Transprint, the exhibition was opportunity to display their export capabilities.
For the first time, Mumbai based Skyscreen launched WTS Automatic Sequin Motif machine with constant live demo. Skyscreen had also showcased Stahls’ heat press and heat transfer vinyl films, GCC cutting plotter with live demo.
TechNova had showcased their range of pre- press products such as positive output films, HP inkjet film printing machine, screen making chemicals, etc through their local distributor Be.Es.En. Traders. “This was our first ever screen printing exhibition in Sri Lanka. We participated in this expo to expand our presence in Sri Lanka’s screen printing market as we already have a strong presence in offset printing industry,” commented Pravin Jha, DGM-Sales, TechNova Imaging Systems, Mumbai.
Surat based Hi-Tech Marketing, manufacturer of sublimation paper, was another Make in India brand which derived maximum benefit from the Screen Print Sri Lanka expo. “Sri Lanka being one of the growing hub of garment/textiles, by participating in this expo, we tried to boost our market presence and we received well focused visitors,” said Amit Jha, Business Head of Hi-Tech Marketing.
“Sri Lanka is an important market for us, and being a manufacturer of wide range of textile printing inks, the expo gave us a platform to showcase ‘Make in India’ products in the overseas market and we received many new business leads,” said V. Prakash, Director of Lakshmi Bio Chem, Tirupur.
As a value addition to the exhibition, a series of technical seminars were conducted which received overwhelming response including a houseful session. The technical seminars on textile printing vis a vis garment decoration were conducted by Charlie Taublieb, Taublieb Consulting, USA, who is an international textile screen printing expert and a Board member of ASDPT and member of SGIA. On the other hand, Charles Arputhaswamy, a Screen Printing Consultant & a Printing Technologist, conducted a series of seminars on advanced screen printing with special focus on screen making and industrial printing.
In addition, the Charlie’s Corner, a separate hands on training longue, witnessed a big rush of knowledge seeking visitors who wanted to learn the art of textile screen printing from the expert, Charlie Taublieb. Charlie tirelessly demonstrated t-shirt printing on 6 color M&R Manual carousal textile screen printing machine. “I am quite happy to see the enthusiasm of the Sri Lankan printers who asked some sensible questions during my technical seminars. The growing Sri Lankan garment printing market certainly needs knowledge up gradation,” said Charlie Taublieb while commenting on the Sri Lankan textile market. The Charlie’s Corner was supported by Inkuin, a Turkey based textile screen printing ink manufacturer.
The exhibition was supported by Screenprinting & Graphics Imaging Association of India (SGAI), INGRIN Institute of Printing and Graphics, Colombo, and South India Printers’ Association (SIPA). The 3-day exhibition was inaugurated on 22nd June 2018 by Ranjit Fernando, President of Sri Lanka Association of Printers (SLAP) along with Ananda Wickremaratne, MD & CEO of INGRIN; and Board Members of SGAI, Charlie Taublieb, Taublieb Consulting, USA, and other invited guests and exhibitors.
“The technical seminars being organised on the sidelines of the expo was really beneficial to the printers at large,” said Ranjit Fernado, President of SLAP.
Commenting on the exhibition, Ananda Wickremaratne, Director of INGRIN, Colombo said: “It is appreciable that an Indian exhibition organizer (Aditya Exposition), has well thought of organizing a trade exhibition related to screen and textile printing for the second time in Sri Lanka. Such exclusive screen printing exhibitions never held in Sri Lanka.”
On a concluding note, Devang Sheth, Director of Aditya Exposition, said: “The expo was also an opportunity for some of the Indian exhibitors to proudly showcase ‘Make in India’ products in an overseas market. Many of the exhibitors said that they received ‘focused’ visitors’ footfall, rather than overcrowding. They said that they could spend lot of time with potential
customers. Most of the overseas exhibitors were very optimistic about the Sri Lankan market and wish to expand their presence in the Island nation.”
About Aditya Exposition:
‘Screen Print Sri Lanka’ expo brand is owned by Aditya Group comprising of Aditya Exposition (P) Ltd. and Aditya Publications. The group focuses only on Screen Printing / Digital Printing / Textile Printing / Sublimation Printing / Stationery & Gifting / Signage & Signage Systems industry and comprises of professions working towards creating new business opportunities under the able leadership of Devang Sheth. Aditya Exposition has over 25-years of experience and expertise in organizing screen and textile printing exhibitions in India and abroad (Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Vietnam, etc). Aditya Exposition will be organizing Screen Print Bangladesh at Dhaka on 27-29 September 2018. On the other hand, Aditya Publications publishes three trade magazines, viz, Screen Print India (monthly on screen, digital and textile printing), Sublimating Ideas (quarterly on sublimation and gifting) and Events, Venues and Avenues (Bi-monthly on MICE industry).