What the Largest PRINTING United Expo Booths Reveal About Printing’s Future
With more than 820 exhibitors covering 1 million square feet of space, PRINTING United Expo will be massive. But which vendors have reserved the largest exhibit space at the Orlando, Florida, show?
We ranked the largest by square footage. Canon U.S.A. takes the lead with its 9,600-sq.-ft. area, followed by M&R Printing Equipment with 7,200-sq. ft. then Agfa with 5,400-sq. ft. See the full list below.
We did an analysis of this list, looking at what types of equipment those vendors will be showing, and what this signals about the Expo’s focus and industry trends in general.
First, here’s the list of the 17 largest booths at the Expo. (Why 17? Because after that, 10 companies tie with 2800-sq.-ft. booths. So let’s stick with 17.)
| 1. Canon U.S.A. | 9600 sq. ft. |
| 2. M&R Printing Equipment | 7200 sq. ft. |
| 3. Agfa | 5400 sq. ft. |
| 4. Standard Finishing Systems | 5000 sq. ft. |
| 5. Epson America | 5000 sq. ft. |
| 6. Mimaki USA | 4000 sq. ft. |
| 7. FUJIFILM | 4000 sq. ft. |
| 8. Duplo USA | 4000 sq. ft. |
| 9. HP | 4000 sq. ft. |
| 10. Durst Image Technology | 3600 sq. ft. |
| 11. Sharp Electronics | 3500 sq. ft. |
| 12. Konica Minolta | 3500 sq. ft. |
| 13. Heidelberg USA | 3500 sq. ft. |
| 14. Ricoh USA | 3200 sq. ft. |
| 15. Roland DGA | 3000 sq. ft. |
| 16. EFI | 3000 sq. ft. |
| 17. Muller Martini | 3000 sq. ft. |
An analysis of the largest booths reveals a show dominated by digital inkjet, wide-format, and automated finishing, with solid representation from production toner/inkjet presses and apparel print.
The wide-format contingent is massive. Canon, HP, Epson, Mimaki, Roland, and Durst anchor the floor with roll/flatbed platforms for display graphics, décor and industrial applications.
Finishing is a second major pillar. Standard Finishing Systems and Duplo are known for integrated, automated finishing — slit/cut/crease, bookletmaking, perfect binding, and Hunkeler/Horizon feeding — and their large footprints imply strong demand for end-to-end automation around short-run digital jobs. Heidelberg and Muller Martini extend that with industrial postpress — cutters/folders and high-speed saddle stitch and binding lines — signaling that commercial and book production workflows will be on display alongside digital presses.
Production print — toner and high-speed inkjet — is the third pillar. Canon, Konica Minolta, Ricoh, FUJIFILM, and Sharp all bring sheetfed and continuous-feed options for in-plants and commercial shops.
One outlier is M&R, the screen/DTF/DTG powerhouse, which signals strong apparel-decoration presence amid the sign/display emphasis. Expect conveyor dryers, autos and hybrid DTG/DTF alongside the rest of garment tech.
Of course, the largest exhibits aren’t the entire Expo. Dozens of other technologies will be on display, from software to promotional products; from digital textile printing to packaging innovations. Hundreds of the world’s leading manufacturers and suppliers will showcase their latest innovations with many brand-new solutions debuting at the Expo.
Still, the equipment in the largest exhibits says a lot about the Expo and the industry:
- Inkjet is everywhere — roll, flatbed, label, and corrugated — reflecting a market shifting to higher automation, shorter runs and more substrates.
- Finishing automation is front-and-center, acknowledging that labor constraints make touch-less, barcode-driven finishing a must.
- Textiles/apparel are mainstream, not niche — from Epson/Mimaki DTG/DTF to HP Stitch — so expect soft signage and garment workflows to feature heavily.
- In-plants will find plenty in light-production toner, cut-sheet inkjet and compact finishing, while commercial and packaging printers will gravitate to Durst Tau and Heidelberg/Muller Martini lines.
Net-net, the biggest booths forecast an Expo floor dominated by wide-format/industrial inkjet and automated finishing — with meaningful islands for production toner/inkjet and apparel — mirroring where revenue and growth are headed today.
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Bob has served as editor of In-plant Impressions since October of 1994. Prior to that he served for three years as managing editor of Printing Impressions, a commercial printing publication. Mr. Neubauer is very active in the U.S. in-plant industry. He attends all the major in-plant conferences and has visited 200 in-plant operations around the world. He has given presentations to numerous in-plant groups in the U.S., Canada and Australia, including the Association of College and University Printers and the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association. He also coordinates the annual In-Print contest, co-sponsored by IPMA and In-plant Impressions.
