Gearing up drupa 2012

With the motto ‘one world – one drupa’, the leading international trade fair for the print and media industry, drupa 2012 is to take place in Düsseldorf during May 03-16, exhibiting all the highlights of the international technology leaders. Like no other trade fair, drupa presents the vast global range on offer. The special show ‘Sustainability’ will also be taking place as a cooperative event of the Media Mundo initiative and Messe Düsseldorf as part of drupa 2012, focusing on the sustainable development of the entire industry. Whether global players or ambitious newcomers, providers from emerging countries or from industrial nations – they are all represented at drupa. The complete fairground with its 19 halls will be transformed into the largest printing plant of the world during this time. Here, approximately 1,800 exhibitors from over 50 countries will give proof of the versatility and innovation strength of their industry – regardless of whether it is all about newspapers, packaging printing, commercial or functional printing. In contrast to the last drupa 2008, the suppliers of digital solutions have become even more important and thus clearly reflect the mega trend of digitisation. In the coming show, six halls will show everything concerning digital printing, workflow or web-to-print applications, to just name the most important examples. Companies such as Agfa, Canon, Kodak, Epson, Fujifilm, Hewlett-Packard, Konica Minolta, Ricoh, Screen and Xerox can be found in halls 4, 5, 8a, 8b, 9 and 10. A positive trend can also be seen in the field of post-production; the exhibitors have noticeably enlarged their presentation (e.g. Kolbus).

Other important cornerstones of drupa 2012 are: Halls 1 and 2: Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG with its network partners (e.g. Polar-Mohr); Hall 3: Printing as well as materials and services (e.g. Leonhard Kurz, Sakurai); Hall 6: PrintCity with manroland as well as other exhibitors (e.g. Wohlenberg); Halls 10 to 12: Paper processing and packaging supplies production (e.g. Bobst AG, Mitsubishi Paper, Comexi); Halls 12 to14: Printing post-production (e.g. Horizon, Müller Martini, CP Bourg); and Halls 15 to 17: Printing machines and printing post-production (e.g. Cerrutti, Ferag AG, Goss, Koenig & Bauer AG, Körber PaperLink, Kolbus GmbH & Co. KG, Shanghai Electric, Windmöller & Hölscher KG). The dynamic development of the Chinese printing market is also reflected by the large number of participating exhibitors: With around 11,000 square metres, China’s participation has increased by almost 100 percent compared to 2008.

Sustainability to be an integral part

The important future-relevant subject of sustainability cannot be missing. So, under the title of ‘Media Mundo @ drupa’, a special exhibit on sustainability is planned, with whose implementation the industry initiative Media Mundo has been entrusted as a cooperation partner. On about 200 sq m of exhibition space, visitor information, live discussions and exciting presentations from experts and industry players will be offered over the two weeks of the trade fair. All this will be framed by an alternating themed exhibit, at which countless partners of the Media Mundo initiative, leading companies and organisations will inform and inspire. The range of themes includes all of the relevant aspects of sustainability of the printing and paper industries: Sustainable forestry and paper; energy efficiency and climatic change; Recycling and material efficiency; Process optimisation and sustainable corporate management; Sustainable product design; and Print as a social medium.

“The sustainable production of media is not just a sign of responsible behaviour. It is both a future model and an innovation in equal measure. For this reason, it is important to us that the subject field of sustainability remains as an integral part of drupa 2012,” explains Manuel Mataré, director of drupa 2012. “The fundamental concept, which binds a themed exhibit of suppliers of outstanding products and services with a pioneering series of events, makes it possible to present one of the most important and future-focussed issues of the media industry authentically and diversely,” added Rüdiger Maaß, managing director of f:mp. and co-initiator of the industry initiative, Media Mundo.

The most important current trends and highlights will also be documented by the 4th Media Mundo congress on sustainable media production, which, as the leading congress on the issue of sustainability, will be held in Düsseldorf before drupa on March 20-21, 2012. Media Mundo is an innovative trend and future forum on the theme of climate protection and sustainability as part of media production, which was initiated by Fachverband Medienproduktioner e.V. (f:mp.). On the Media Mundo advisory board, important environmental associations as well as representatives from economy and politics are committed to the concerns of actual sustainable production of printed media.

Promoting worldwide

The presentations and press conferences in Chicago (12 September), Manila (15 September) and Tokyo (18 September) signal the start of the crucial phase of the drupa 2012 World Tour. Reaching far into February 2012, around 60 drupa events will take place in more than 40 countries. In India, two such events took place in Bengaluru and Mumbai attracting many from the industry.

The event format ranges from trade press conferences in smaller groups, half-day industry workshops right up to presentations with several hundred participants. Besides the current trade fair facts, the World Tour presents a view on the industry’s mega trends, which will be shown at drupa. “The future of printing lies very clearly in the areas of packaging, printed electronics (RFID) and digital print with personalisation,” says Dr Markus Heering, managing director of the Association for Printing and Paper Technology in the VDMA, adding “Especially packaging printing will play an ever increasing role in the future.”

While traditional markets are close to saturation, the printing market in the emerging countries is developing very dynamically. In Asia, the volume has increased from 133 billion Euros to 168 billion Euros; in China alone it has doubled to 49 billion Euros. And these dynamics are not letting up. Market research institutes estimate that the printing volume in China will increase to 70 billion Euros by 2014. Cautious optimism is reflected by the printing and paper industry in the run-up to drupa 2012. Thus – once again – drupa comes at exactly the right time. Many innovative developments coupled with successful business ideas promise the printing industry exciting future perspectives.

drupa 2012 again with Highlights
Tours for ten current themes

For those visitors who would like to familiarize themselves more with the latest themes and products of drupa 2012, the Highlights Tours are just the right thing. These guided tours will cover ten current industry themes and lead the visitors to the relevant exhibitors during the tour and comprise: Creation and production – design, image editing and production control; Workflow systems – web and print: Perfect cross medial production; Offset print – economic production through automation; Value added printing – more value on all aspects of printing; Green printing – ecologically efficient production; Growth market digital printing – printing and post-printing; Large format printing & advertising technology – where printing sets the stage; Printing post-production & logistics – The variety of possibilities after printing; Packaging and label production – new process solutions and applications; and Functional print products – the new dimension of printing. These guided tours will comprise of upto ten participants at the fee of Euro 45.

“drupa offers the unique opportunity to get to know the international leaders in technology, their products and services first hand. However, based on this large range on offer, it is sometimes difficult for the visitors to find an overview of their particular areas of interest. This is where the Highlights Tours will offer a unique benefit: Information in a fast and compact form,” says Manuel Mataré, director of drupa 2012.