drupa world tour goes places!

The motto of the drupa Print Promotion Industry Summits (PPIS), hosted by Messe Düsseldorf in cooperation with the Printing and Paper Technology Association of the German industrial organisation VDMA and some of the world’s leading exhibitors at drupa, was “Enabling the Digital and Sustainable Transformation”. Known speakers from Heidelberg Deutschland, IST METZ, KAMA, Koenig & Bauer, LEONHARD KURZ, Müller Martini, POLAR Cutting Technologies and the Windmöller & Hölscher Group provided fascinating insights into the industry and initiated a valuable exchange of knowledge on both continents. In Asia, one of the fastest-growing markets in the world, and in Latin America, where the level of investment is currently higher than in Europe, interest in the Print Promotion Industry Summits by drupa 2024 was enormous in preparation for visiting the drupa trade fair. An average of 200 interested industry representatives attended each individual event in Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Mexico, Colombia and Brazil.

Sabine Geldermann, Director drupa, Print Technologies Messe Düsseldorf, looks back with enthusiasm, “Our summits were a complete success. Together with decision-makers involved in the local industries, we discussed the issues that will shape the future with regard to sustainability, circular economy, digitalisation, AI, automation and much more. During panels and discussion rounds, our drupa exhibitors, above all

Dr Andreas Pleßke, CEO of Koenig & Bauer and chairman of the drupa committee and, representing the VDMA, Thomas Schiemann, managing director of the Printing and Paper Technology Association, provided important insights into the European and global markets. Our industrial, media and regional partners in the association, with whom we cooperate locally, added further interesting insights into unique local market conditions.”

Main topics at drupa: Digitalisation and sustainability

One of the dominant issues at the drupa Print Promotion Industry Summits was that of sustainability. With marked enthusiasm, participants discussed the industry’s best practices for circular economy and efficient energy use. In addition, they considered the future and debated which technologies will be needed to make the industry fit for the future, resilient and above all sustainable. This also included a preview of the special forum “Touchpoint Sustainability” at drupa 2024 in Hall 14. Further points under intense discussion were global megatrends like increasing digitalisation, automation, AI and robotics, which will influence both individual processes and the entire added value chain in future.

The drupa world tour continued in December with three stops in India before visiting Japan, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Italy, France and Turkey and holding a pan-Eastern European press conference for eight countries in Hungary. The tour will culminate in the international drupa Media Conference in Düsseldorf at the end of March, followed by drupa 2024 at the end of May, where the global industry for printing technologies will meet for its most important event worldwide at the Düsseldorf trade fair premises.

drupa tour in India

The first Drupa 2024 India Yatra was held in Mumbai on 12 December, Delhi on 13 December and Chennai on 15 December. The event presented current technology and sustainability trends in printing and packaging.

The Drupa team included Dr Andreas Plabke, CEO Koenig & Bauer and president, Drupa; Sabine Geldermann, director, Drupa (Messe Düsseldorf), Germany; Dr Thomas Schiemann, member of the board of management at VDMA Printing and Paper Technology; and Millie Contractor of Messe Düsseldorf.