2016 edition: exhibitions Emballage & Manutention join together to become ALL4PACK Paris

In an environment where the entire production chain is showing increasing signs of integration, the trade shows EMBALLAGE and MANUTENTION have also decided to display their complementarity, coming together to form ALL4PACK Paris, The global marketplace for Packaging, Processing, Printing & Handling.

14 months before the new edition of ALL4PACK Paris (EMBALLAGE & MANUTENTION) – from 14 to 17 November 2016 at Paris-Nord Villepinte – the Show Director Véronique SESTRIERES explains the new challenges, new objectives and new potential of this industry event. These major developments reassert the trade show’s standing as a biennial benchmark international event.

The 2016 show appears to herald a lot of changes. What are the reasons behind this?

Véronique Sestrières: The motto for this 2016 edition is “Let’s be creative!” and we started off by applying the concept to ourselves.

EMBALLAGE and MANUTENTION have experienced a series of developments both in terms of format and substance, and this change has been continuous just like the industry we serve. In 2010, in a stormy economic environment we adopted a very pragmatic strategy. This took the form of us refocussing on the EMEA zone (Europe, Middle East and Africa) which clearly emerged as being a key economic region for the majority of our clients. We also stepped up our efforts to focus on innovation, with unprecedented special events and features. Finally, we did a huge amount of work on visitor targeting. These are to a certain extent the three main pillars that support our show and which will never change. However, three editions further down the line, we have decide to give extra impetus to the show. This translates into three main actions: evolving our event’s brand, totally reshaping our commercial offer and simplifying our sector organisation.

What does the evolution of your brand entail?

V. S.: Over the past two editions, we had already initiated a closer partnership between EMBALLAGE and MANUTENTION. In 2012 the two shows were held together at Paris-Nord Villepinte and generated some quite interesting synergies. Then in 2014, MANUTENTION was integrated within the very exhibition space of EMBALLAGE as a natural continuation of the end-of-line sector of packaging.

This association was a natural consequence of the changes within the industry and the expectations of our visiting purchasers. Today, these people are responsible for buying not just packaging but also packing machines, printing systems and logistics equipment. Our market no longer considers itself as a series of categories but as a global “packaging” production chain going from raw materials to intralogistics and order dispatch. In 2014, our brand ALL4PACK appeared as a signature of our event and as the keyword to enter our website www.all4pack.fr. In 2016, we are emphasising the complementarity of the two shows: “EMBALLAGE and MANUTENTION become ALL4PACK Paris”. And for the 2018 edition, the name ALL4PACK Paris will take over.

What is the development potential for this new brand?

V. S: The brand ALL4PACK Paris is an opportunity to present all of the show’s product offering in its entirety: the international market place for Packaging, Processing, Printing & Handling, and the definitive event for the EMEA zone (Europe, Middle East, Africa).

This trade show is one of the top 10 events organised by Comexposium and we are continuing to pursue our investment policy. We are doing this first of all by ramping up our international promotion in 40 countries outside France, deployed by our network of international offices. In keeping with our strong focus on EMEA countries, we are going to make specific approaches to certain zones which appear to have excellent potential such as Eastern Europe and Africa. And incidentally, Africa, will be the “special guest continent” in our 2016 show: we will be inviting key African buyers and order principals to the show. More generally speaking, we are also reaching out to decision makers, specifiers and industry opinion leaders. The broadening of the product offering represents new potential for qualified business introductions for buyers and exhibitors alike.

Will this development also be visible through the content you will be offering through special events and features?

V. S.: Absolutely. We are opening up the Pack Experts Committee, our industry think tank, to include experts from the supply chain, in association with ASLOG (French Logistics Association). In addition, five international experts will come and join our Pack Experts as ambassadors in certain key countries. We are starting up or pursuing our partnerships with federations, institutes or bodies dealing in packaging, process, printing and handling outside France. But also, more than ever before, we are going to place innovation as the priority for our event by dedicating an exclusive innovation zone on the show to first-ever presentations. Of course the sector’s leading topics and developments will be addressed, such as active, connected packaging, automation, smart warehouses, digital printing, 3D, etc. Environmental protection and the role played by packaging will be among the other topical subjects depending on the outcome of COP 21 which will be held at the end of this year in Paris.

What are you aiming to achieve with this new impetus?

V. S.: We want to create an ever-growing number of business opportunities for our clients in a friendly, efficient and attractive environment. We are fully aware of how attractive France is, and particularly Paris, from a tourist’s perspective, but we should be reminded that the Paris region Ile-de-France is a genuine business platform located at the heart of Europe which remains an essential and solid zone for business for most of our exhibitors.

This is what makes ALL4PACK Paris such a crucial international event for a great many firms in the EMEA zone. It has very many serious assets to attract firms that are looking for new business opportunities at measurable ROI. The last edition of the show in 2014 proved its effectiveness, with a 70% loyalty rate among exhibitors and 50% of new visitors at each edition. 80% of contacts made at the show had specific investment plans and 65% of exhibitors say their participation generates between a month and six months of turnover for their business. Finally, satisfaction rates of both exhibitors and visitors is in excess of 80%.

The other important change for this new show is a new development regarding your commercial offer. What does this entail?

We wanted to ensure that the prices we asked were in line with the needs of our clients, so we enlisted the help of the specialist consultancy JWC which studied our exhibitor database by segment, country, activity, loyalty, product etc. and then surveyed them on the issues they considered to be the most important when it comes to their show participation. Three main items emerged from the survey: the first was the number of open sides on the stand, the second was the date of booking and the third was the most attractive stand positions, for which they were prepared to pay a little extra. We therefore established a “tailor made” price structure which combines the number of open sides,the position according to three zones (platinum, gold and silver, with the zones established according to demand) and the date of booking (before 31 January 2016 and from 1 February 2016 onwards). This new price model, which is quite an innovation in the exhibition field, is totally transparent, with net prices, greater simplicity and true equality of treatment between exhibitors. Each of our clients can consequently find a stand offer to suit their objectives and resources.

The first feedback we have received so far is excellent. Our exhibitors appreciate the “values” upheld by this new price policy.

The last change for 2016 is that you are going to be showing in a new hall?

V. S.: In 2016, ALL4PACK Paris will be using halls 5a, 6 and 7 of Paris-Nord Villepinte. This new layout is an opportunity to simplify the sector organisation. Halls 5a and 6 will be dedicated to machines and Hall 7 will play host to the packaging range, from raw materials to finished goods. We have reorganised the exhibition contents into seven main sectors instead of the previous 12. There are two big advantages to this new sector structure: it is easier to understand which makes our visitor’s lives easier, offering a smoother visiting experience, and it gives our exhibitors more latitude in their choice of stand space.

Another new development regarding the event’s location is that we will be held in colocation with the show TRUSTECH (formerly known as CARTES), the world’s leading event for secure payment, identification and mobility solutions (from 15 to 17 November in Hall 4).

And finally, as an extension of its investment policy for this show, Comexposium is also offering an exclusive new generation of fitted stands, the work of renowned designers Marcelo Joulia and Christophe Pillet. Their first outing will be at our 2016 show.