The next drupa will be held from 23rd June to

3rd July 2020. A lot of things can happen between

now and then – reading habits can change, advertisers

may seek more customised offerings, suppliers may

feel more pressure. Whatever it may be, there is no

doubting the fact that there is a positive spirit for

the global print industry today. Investments have

picked up, albeit slowly. The 11-day drupa fair drew

1837 exhibitors from 54 countries. A drupa release

says the exhibitors “unanimously reported excellent

business deals, extremely promising contacts...” So

what are some of the key takeaways from drupa 2016

and the sidelights?

The re-positioning of drupa and its focus on future

themes with strong growth potential – such as 3D

printing, functional printing or packaging printing –

proved to be a real asset. Be it publication, commercial,

packaging or industrial printing – printing technology

offers matching solutions for all of these applications

while opening up new lines of business and business

models at the same time. Claus BolzaSchünemann,

chairman of the drupa Committee and chairman

of the Board at Koenig & Bauer AG summed it

up rather well: “The print industry is constantly reinventing

itself and offers a wealth of high-potential

facets. And this is precisely what drupa 2016 has very

impressively proven. We were able to experience a

highly innovative industry here in the 19 exhibition

halls, one that has succeeded in moving out of the

‘valley of tears’ and grasping the future by the neck.”

The release says some 260000 visitors from

188 countries and about 1900 journalists from 74

countries travelled to Düsseldorf for drupa. The

percentage of international visitors was up 16 per

cent from four years ago. About 75 per cent of the

visitors were executives and in a decisive and/or codecisive

capacity, as far as taking decisions on capital

expenditure was concerned. The visitors’ survey

underscored clearly that drupa was a flawless B2B

trade fair and platform for business decisions: 54 per

cent of visitors came to drupa 2016 with concrete

investment intentions; 29 per cent placed orders at

the event; 30 per cent planned to place their orders

after drupa; and 60 per cent found new suppliers. One

in two visitors expected their companies’ business to

develop very well over the next twelve months.

According to Werner Matthias Dornscheidt,

president & CEO of Messe Düsseldorf GmbH,

customers (with very few exceptions) no longer

visit drupa with large delegations or as part of a

company outing to drupa. Today, it is rather the top

managers that travel to Düsseldorf for the event.

Seventeen per cent of international visitors were

from Asia. India accounted for the largest share with

5 per cent, followed by China with 3 per cent. The

leading European countries were Italy, France, the

Netherlands and the UK.

Technical events scored and there was a lot of

interest in drupa cube, drupa innovation park, 3D

fab + print, touchpoint packaging as well as printed

electronics and solutions. The drupa innovation park

focused on innovative business models in addition to

technology innovations from renowned exhibitors.

On display were ready-to-market applications for

augmented reality in field service and in advertising

but also successful examples for multi-channel

campaigns.

Here are some pertinent observations: Jean-Pascal

Bobst, CEO, Bobst, says the industries we serve today

are searching for drastic productivity improvement

through innovations, services and people relationship.

Eric Bell, marketing director, Goss, makes the point

that customers and partners should be at the forefront

of a business strategy. Benny Landa, Chairman, Landa,

says drupa 2016 will be remembered as the inflection

point in the industry’s transition from mechanical

printing to digital. And perhaps the most significant

observation, made by Aviv Ratzman, CEO and cofounder,

Highcon: “Many of the customers we met

during drupa have realised the need to start investing

in technology rather than continue to expand capacity,

adding value to their products instead of competing

on price.” Clearly, there is every reason to look to

the future with optimism, and print definitely has a

future.

Editor Rind Survey

Sunil Varghese

www.HeveaEngineers.com

Hevea Rollers for trouble free Printing