As the initial flood of visitors began streaming into Sydney Olympic Park for the opening day of AUSPACK PLUS 2013 this morning, the owners and organisers of this year's show have been upbeat in their predictions for the show's success.
The chairman of the Australian Packaging and Processing Machine Association (APPMA), Mark Dingley, went as far as declaring it the biggest in the event's history even before the first visitors entered the show floor.
“AUSPACK PLUS 2013 will see the largest amount of exhibitors in the show's history with 307 in total – 73 internationals and over 1100 brands under one roof,” he said.
“The APMMA solely owns AUSPACK PLUS and this event is the jewel in the crown for packaging and processing machinery industry.
“We welcome everyone to the show and we hope that over the next four days exhibitors and visitors will have the opportunity to meet, learn, network and gain insight in to some innovative products and solutions.”
Event manager Luke Kasprzak said the growth of the show and this year's record numbers was a testament to the vibrancy of the country's packaging sector.
“This year’s AUSPACK PLUS is a true indication of how extensive the packaging and processing machinery and materials industry is in this country,” he said.
“Some 231 Australian exhibitors and 76 internationals will be displaying the latest and greatest in technological advancements in packaging and processing machinery from around the world, all under one roof, this week.
“This is the largest product offering in the history of AUSPACK.”
He also said this week's event will have a strong international focus, confirming its standing amongst the top packaging trade shows of the world.
“We have the 2013 APPMA Awards of Excellence, 2013 WorldStar Packaging Awards, the Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP) National Technical Forum and over 200 international delegates from the World Packaging Organisation involved this week, making AUSPACK PLUS 2013 the most diverse show to-date.”
He said 25 members of the World Packaging Organisation (WPO) will be at the show this week.
“They are coming from all over the world including Turkey, Austria, Israel, Norway, China, India, South Africa, Nigeria, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Korea and Indonesia.”
The WPO will hold its board meetings over three days at Olympic Park alongside the show.
In terms of the WorldStar Packaging Awards – which will be presented at a gala dinner hosted by the AIP on Thusday night – Kasprzak said there were over 220 people coming from over 27 countries in the world to attend the event.
He said delegates will come from such countries as Kenya, Sweden, Indonesia, Turkey, South Africa, UK, US, India, China, Serbia, Brazil, Japan, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Korea, Israel, Switzerland, Norway, Poland, Spain, the Czech Republic and Germany.
AUSPACK PLUS event organiser Luke Kasprzak (left) and the APPMA's Mark Dingley (right) are expecting a record breaking show this year.
