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In October, during the Global Print Expo 2021 in Amsterdam, FESPA announced that Christophe Aussenac had been officially confirmed FESPA’s 18th president for a three year term of office. He had already been a FESPA board member since 2014 and is also in charge of FESPA France, the national association serving the French digital and wide format printing industry.
Christophe Aussenac replaces the outgoing president Christian Duyckaerts, whom he had seconded as vice-president since 2017. Christian Duyckaerts, also a FESPA board member, has been appointed FESPA’s Asia Ambassador and is actively involved in FESPA Belgium, the Belgian national association.
Environmental concerns will be the most pressing of the numerous challenges the new president of FESPA will be facing when addressing the many needs of the printing community. Trade enquiries and calls for tender nowadays will frequently question suppliers about their environmental policies and certified compliance with ISO 14001 environmental management. ECOVADIS certification is also increasingly in demand as a reliable source for business sustainability ratings. In their own words ECOVADIS’ mission is “to deliver the world’s most trusted sustainability ratings, enabling businesses to reduce risk, drive performance and improve environmental and social outcomes.”
In his inaugural statement Christophe Aussenac declared: “As a speciality printer myself, I believe that FESPA has a vital role to play in supporting our global community to enable it to continue to evolve, innovate and rise to the challenges and opportunities that face us, in particular the imperative to place more emphasis on environmental responsibility.”
FESPA endeavours to inform and guide its members on how to best tackle these new challenges. In an industry that aims for sustainability and that watches its environmental impact, business decisions will be determined by these considerations. FESPA will support its members with comprehensive industry updates and technical webinars to enable them to keep abreast with the latest developments.
Christophe Aussenac sees a number of opportunities for the printing community in this approach that will in time bring true benefits through innovation and savings, i.e.: lower energy consumption, less waste, better managed resources, improved productivity, coherent standards, customer loyalty, and staff loyalty.
FESPA’s second priority with the new presidency will be to rejuvenate and professionalize the printing industry. On the outside the printing trade is often perceived as outdated. Christophe Aussenac sees it as his job to attract younger professionals and to increase the industry’s visibility. Working with schools and other educational institutions, FESPA aims to widen interest in the profession and increase the number of printing specialists in the industry.
Statement: This is a summary of an article being published in SignPro Europe 4-2021, written by Martin Kugler. Christophe Aussenac is a founding director of ATC, a business based on the outskirts of Lyons which he founded with his associate Robert Combes in 1991. In the 1990s, with the industry diversifying into digital inkjet printing with many new materials, the traditional craft of sign makers was changing significantly. In the following decade Christophe Aussenac witnessed the emergence of environmental concerns and in 2008 he initiated his eco-attitude project to differentiate his business from competitors operating in the same field.
