In 1963 the exhibit Printing and the Mind of Man held in connection with IPEX "foreshadowed the impending impact of electronics and presaged the demise of prepress mechanics and craft practices."
Writer, Ian Fleming, a collector of rare books on technology, was a major contributor to the exhibition.
The show had seen decades of success when it switched to Birmingham's National Exhibition Centre in 1980, from its previous Earls Court home, attracting almost 100,000 visitors in the following years.
Both companies went on to achieve huge success, albeit on the back of several ownership changes in the volatile early years, when their technology was largely decried by print businesses.
The demise of Ipex came thanks to an ill-fated decision to switch the location for the 2014 show from the NEC, with its ultra-easy air, rail and road access, and very pleasant surrounds in Shakespeare country, to a somewhat inaccessible location in east London, the Excel Centre, with its tortuous road and rail links.