Propak Africa 2019 opens tomorrow at Johannesburg Expo Centre
An all-encompassing event and a forum for trading, networking, learning and product sourcing, Propak Africa opens tomorrow with co-located events The GAPP Print Expo, Pro-Plas Expo, FoodPro and Pro-Label Africa. For free entry to the show, visitors can register online at www.propakafrica.co.za
Recognised as Africa’s ultimate packaging, food processing, plastics, printing and labelling exhibition, the over 600 exhibitors across Halls 5, 6 and 7 and outside exhibit areas will give visitors the opportunity to see the latest state-of-the-art equipment and machinery, auxiliary products and services.
Taking place at the Johannesburg Expo Centre in Nasrec for four days from Tuesday to Friday, 12-15 March, 9am to 5pm daily, many new products and services are expected to be unveiled at the show.
“Propak Africa is the place to be to see the future of all things packaging,” says Sven Smit, Event Director for Propak Africa. “Effective, striking and sustainable packaging has never been more important and all the latest innovations will be on show across Propak Africa and co-located events. It’s a showcase of the latest developments across the full industry life-cycle.”
In addition to the interactive product displays, live demonstrations and advice provided by the technical experts on the stands, visitors can also benefit from several exciting new features this year.
“For the first time there will be free-to-attend seminars at the show,” says Smit. “Taking place at the Seminar Theatre in Hall 7, more than 20 industry leaders from the packaging, printing, and plastics industries will be sharing their insights around latest developments and challenges in these industries. The seminars will run across the four days of the show and the topics will be aligned with the themed days, which are also one of our new features,” he says.
The ‘every day a themed day’ experience has a different theme focus for each day of the show. Smit explains that the first day will focus on new products and that “we want to celebrate these and will be highlighting a few of the top ones.” Visitors can view the new product display units in the visitor registration area and the show programme highlights many of the exhibitors who have new products on their stands.
Smit says that day two will embrace sustainability. Visitors are invited to be a part of promoting good environmental practices through packaging and they can find out how at the Sustainability Pavilion in Hall 5 where Producer Responsibility Organisations are exhibiting alongside Packaging SA. Many exhibitors will also be promoting their sustainability initiatives at Propak Africa.
“Developed in partnership with the Artisan Training Institute, a new Skills Development Area in Hall 5 is showcasing a fully functional workshop where students will be demonstrating skills learned at ATI that are relevant to the industries represented at the show,” says Smit. “Although taking place for the duration of the show, this area will provide a focus point for day three’s skills development theme.”
Visitors are encouraged to engage with exhibitors and learn about the skills development programmes they have in place and the theme day leaflet received on arrival will highlight these. Also in Hall 5, visitors have the opportunity to see innovative packaging designs submitted by finalists of the Institute of Packaging Southern Africa (IPSA) Student Goldpack Awards.
“The final day of the show is our ‘local is lekker’ South African day,” states Smit. ”We want to celebrate Propak Africa, now in its 44th year, and to also celebrate our local and our international exhibitors who contribute to the industry and to the South African economy.”
In addition to the seminars, four conferences are taking place alongside Propak Africa, providing additional learning opportunities for visitors. The Institute of Packaging SA (IPSA) Think Tank is taking place on 12 and 13 March, the Printing SA and South African Institute of Printing (SAIP) Conference on 13 March and the SAPRO and WWF-SA Design for Recycling Workshop on 13 March. VDS Media’s Propak Africa Packaging Innovation and Sustainability Conference takes place on 14 March.
For further information and online visitor registration, visit www.propakafrica.co.za