Olympics of printing : ‘drupa 2012’ concludes with optimistic note at all fronts

-sending out trendsetting impulses for the Print to Enhance

India becomes the largest visitors nation if we don’t count the host country Germany

The trade fair of innovations and investment, drupa 2012 (May 03-16) closed its doors in Düsseldorf to be reopened on June 02, 2016 for the next edition show. Be it showcasing how the industry is set to expand the horizons with B2-format in digital, dominated by state-of-the-art offerings from the industry’s major suppliers and machinery manufacturers for automation, packaging printing, digital printing, hybrid technologies, web-to-print applications and environmentally sound printing, the show apparently sent out trendsetting impulses for the print sector, indicating that offset and digital print solutions complement rather than compete. The initiatives by drupa organisers to collaborate with few more organizations of Germany for offering add-on advantages to attendees in terms of knowledge and information on trends in and around the print were highly appreciated. Multiple orders were placed during the fair and the number of enquiries rose continually over the course of the 14-day show that is why many exhibitors are now looking forward to good post-fair business. In this Olympics of printing, India emerged as the second largest visitors nation after Germany, with around 15,000 visitors (official figure), while around 27 Indian exhibitors participated to explore the overseas market for their cost-effective solutions.
The 15th drupa 2012 concluded on an optimistic note from all, giving the most important signal: ‘print has potential and the sector need to continue investing in future.’ This willingness to invest continued unabated in the second half of the trade fair too. Add to this the fact that experts specifically highlight the wealth of innovations and market-oriented solutions for the entire print spectrum. “drupa was a resounding success for the sector. The trade fair sent out key impulses. Newer business ideas and innovations were showcased here that all led to high investment. What the 1,850 exhibitors presented during the two weeks will strengthen the development potential of the print and media industry for a long term,” conveyed Bernhard Schreier, president of drupa 2012 and board chairman at Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG, summing up the drupa 2012 result. “Here in Düsseldorf business was done and points were set for the future of the sector.”

Around 3,14,500 experts from more than 130 countries came to drupa in Düsseldorf, (75,500 less than in 2008). “This drupa does not come as a surprise for us and the sector as a whole. In Germany alone the printing industry lost some 3,900 operations with over 61,000 employees between 2000 and 2011. In the USA over the same period more than 7,700 printing operations closed. Against this backdrop it is not surprising that fewer visitors came to drupa 2012. However – and this is the key point – customers now no longer come to drupa as large delegations or on group corporate trips; it is much more top managers who travel to Düsseldorf. drupa is clearly the decision-makers’ trade fair and the trade fair for business,” underlined Werner Matthias Dornscheidt, president & CEO of Messe Düsseldorf.

HP senior team members interacting with media.“drupa sent out key impulses in this difficult climate for our sector. This gives us optimism that the backlog in investment on many markets around the world is now gradually being overcome,” said Dr Markus Heering, managing director of the Print and Paper Technology Association within the German Engineering Federation VDMA. Both large printing machinery manufacturers and their suppliers posted orders. The number of enquiries also rose continually over the course of the trade fair which is why many exhibitors are also looking forward to good post-fair business.

This shows how drupa 2012’s is defending its position as the world’s most important and largest B2B trade fair in its sector – a fact also illustrated by the results of the visitor survey. Visitors come to drupa with specific investment intentions. Nearly 50 percent of all visitors place specific orders – and most of these rights at the trade fair itself. This comes as no surprise as, after all, the proportion of top managers amongst visitors has grown significantly since 2008 (50.8 percent compared with 44.4 percent in 2008). With more than 1,90,000 foreign visitors the international focus of drupa continues at a very high level.

The dominating themes at drupa 2012 were automation, packaging printing, digital printing, hybrid technologies, web-to-print applications and environmentally sound printing. Also attracting great attention was the future theme printed electronics which was highlighted in a variety of fields: at the drupa innovation park, drupa cube, and at many stands of drupa exhibitors. “Technologically drupa 2012 was a fair of superlatives. It demonstrated that printing is more alive than ever,” said Rolf Schwarz, president of the German Print and Media Association Bundesverband Druck und Medien. “There were impressive innovations in all printing processes. I was particularly excited by suppliers and machinery manufacturers from upstream supplies, printing and further processing who jointly convinced visitors with workflow and production solutions and outstanding products.”

Also producing a positive result was the specialist supporting programme at drupa. Over 20 percent of visitors were interested in the drupa innovation park and drupa cube presented by digi:media. With its over 130 exhibitors in Hall 7.0, the drupa innovation park (dip) was a hub and focal point for innovations in the digital supplies sector and reported a very successful drupa.

While the focus at the dip was technology, at drupa cube, the trendy congress location in Hall 7A, everything revolved around trends in cross-media, print-based communication. The 13-day programme featuring over 80 speakers was specifically aimed at print buyers, marketing decision-makers, advertisers, publishing houses and designers. Over the differently themed days some 1,000 specialists from 55 countries gathered information here on cross-media campaigns, corporate publishing, trends in newspaper, book and magazine production, out-of-home applications, dialogue marketing, packaging, electronic printing and media production.

Commenting on the response at drupa 2012, Jim Harvey, executive director, CIP4 Organization, said, “You can get more done in one day at drupa than in a month at the office. I’ve visited most of our over 90 members around drupa and in the dip, and everyone reports a high volume of visitors and high levels of interest. With the recent troubles over the past few years, it’s nice to see the smiles on the faces of both printers and vendors here at drupa and sense a positive attitude about the industry throughout drupa.” As per John Dangelmaier, president and Rainer Kuhn, managing director of PrintCity, “It was our best ever PrintCity drupa for networking & cooperation!”

“Esko had a great drupa. Not only did we over achieve our targets for sales and leads, but also received confirmation that our long term strategy for integrated end-to-end solutions integrating with other business systems is the right one. At this ‘all-digital’ drupa, our industry searches for powerful solutions to become more efficient, consistent and productive,” commented Jeff Stoffels, director corporate marketing, Esko. As per Bernhard Schreier of Heidelberg, “drupa has once again clearly demonstrated its importance as a major industry trade show. As for Heidelberg, our expectations of the trade show have been more than satisfied. The fact that we have remained true to our development projects over recent years, some of which have not been easy, has been rewarded.”

“drupa 2012 has been an incredible show for HP. We came with transformative innovations and customers responded very positively enabling us to exceed our sales target for the show very early on. We also enjoyed outstanding individual product successes, especially with the new B2 HP Indigo 10000 for which we doubled our sales target. The new HP Indigo 5600 and HP Indigo 7600 also sold in huge numbers, and our labels and packaging presses did very well too. What’s more, our HP Inkjet web press series was very successful at the show, highlighting the continued transformation in publishing and transactional production. Our large format business did extremely well too, with strong sales across all continents for HP Latex products and the new HP Scitex FB7600,” commented Francois Martin, worldwide marketing director, HP Graphic Solutions Business.

As per Claus Bolza-Schünemann of KBA, “The value of orders placed in Düsseldorf exceeded expectations considerably. With customers from 30 countries KBA was able, over the 14 days of the fair, to conclude numerous deals for sheet offset machines in all format categories. Topping the sales figure rankings here were China, Russia, Germany, Poland and France. Add to these a number of orders for web offset machines including ones from Germany and France. The RotaJET 76 digital printing machine premiered by KBA at drupa also generated a very high level of interest.”

At one of the get togethers organised by Ricoh in Altstadt!“drupa has been an extraordinary show on many fronts – for our industry, our customers and for Kodak. I am very excited about how our customers are embracing change and adding new solutions to create higher value pages for their clients. They have shared with me many examples of how Kodak hybrid products and solutions are the catalyst for this change,” said Antonio Perez, chairman & CEO, Kodak. While for Kai Büntemeyer of Kolbus, drupa 2012 has been one of the best so far. “In terms of concrete business deals we kicked off the trade fair with cautious optimism. We were particularly surprised at the great interest from Brazil and India. drupa 2012 showed one thing very clearly: smart investments that increase productivity are the key to business success,” he said.

“I imagined that we would have a big impact, but what really overwhelmed me is how customers have responded so amazingly to our message, technology and strategy of partnering with industry leaders. Their response to the opportunity that Landa Nanographic Printing brings with its potential to transform mainstream commercial, packaging and publishing markets has been staggering. We have received unprecedented levels of interest and orders for our family of sheetfed and web presses, with the Landa S10 Nanographic Printing Press, with its B1 format, the clear winner. Throughout the show, our stand has been packed with visitors and our theatre presentation entitled ‘Nano. Bigger than you think’ has been fully booked days in advance,” said Benny Landa, founder, chairman & CEO, Landa Corporation.

Victor Abergel, executive vice president, managing director, MGI Digital Graphic Technology stated, “This is our 5th drupa and we have never had such a success like 2012. All our main customers were at our stand and we were able to conclude good business deals. We welcomed to our stand top notch trade visitors from over 50 countries, especially from Asia, the USA and the Middle East and Africa.“

“At Mimaki we’re proud to have been part of this milestone drupa session. For us drupa represented the introduction of JFX500 series, a next-generation high-speed UV-LED flatbed inkjet printer, the new JV400-LX, a wide-format printer equipped with latex ink, and the new JV400-SUV, an inkjet printer equipped with solvent UV ink. We’ve also received great responses to the new Easy Direct Print System, an automatic misalignment adjustment system for the UJF304 series printers,” conveyed Mike Horsten, marketing manager, Mimaki Europe.

According to Peter Williams, vice president, head of production printing business group, Ricoh Europe, “drupa 2012 has been an outstanding success for Ricoh. Visitors number to our booth far surpassed drupa 2008 as have the number of new contacts we have made and sales orders that were placed. We have been delighted to demonstrate everything we can offer in print, and beyond. So, besides strong interest in our various new products, our innovation and environmental zones were always busy. drupa 2012 enabled Ricoh to send out a very strong signal that the future is bright for Ricoh, and, above all, our clients.”

“Before drupa I was thinking this was a huge expense and every four years was the right timing, now seeing our results I think it should be every two years,” said Wim Maes, CEO, Xeikon. “We expected drupa 2012 to be a great buying show, and it’s delivered. drupa provides Xerox with a unique opportunity to build winning strategies with our customers so they can focus on their real business objectives. We bring customers from around the world to drupa because it is the “Olympics of Printing. Our stand attracted around 1,00,000 visitors. drupa is great for the industry, our customers and for Xerox,” conveyed John Ahlman, senior director global experiential marketing, Xerox Corporation.

Baldwin Technology Company Inc, a global supplier of auxiliary graphic arts equipment and consumables serving sheetfed, newspaper, commercial web, digital and flexo markets launched highly-engineered technology for spray dampening, UV and LED UV curing, water management, cylinder cleaning and glueing applications at drupa 2012. Visitors could see Baldwin’s exceptional line of pressroom products that enhance performance.

The stand of FUJIFILM Corporation featured the introduction of a new surface treatment technology called ‘MultiGrain Z’ that is set to be used in the manufacture of its processless printing plate. This new manufacturing process is unique to Fujifilm, and allows for the creation of an even greater effective surface area of the plate, which will result in up to a 50 percent improvement in run length for the company’s revolutionary new Brillia HD PRO-T3 processless plate, while retaining the superior ink/water balance, on press processing stability and market leading image quality.

Besides, Fujifilm launched Uvistar Pro8 super – wide format printer, the latest version of its cloud-based web-to-print solution, XMF PrintCentre V3, and showcased the performance advantages of four new Uvijet ink systems across the company’s range of wide format inkjet printing equipment. FUJIFILM, along with Inca Digital Printers, also unveiled the Inca Onset S40i flatbed UV inkjet printer which supercedes the Inca Onset S40 and includes many new intelligent features increasing productivity and reliability. Fujifilm Dimatix also launched StarFire SG-1024/M-C, the first of a new family of printheads that uniquely incorporates FUJIFILM Dimatix’ innovative RediJet and VersaDrop jetting technologies to shorten startup and ongoing maintenance times and to deliver industrial-speed grayscale printing.

Press control technology provider QuadTech announced significant recent sales, coinciding with drupa 2012. From India, Pelican Rotoflex Pvt Ltd (Rajkot) ordered QuadTech’s Autotron 2600 with ClearLogic Register Guidance System. “drupa 2012 was a huge success for us! We signed several significant orders at the show and will be finalizing others in the coming weeks. The response to our inspection and colour control innovations for packaging printers was unbelievable, and the news of our sale to the Chicago Tribune raised a lot of interest in our AccuCam product. We’re very excited to partner with these new and repeat customers, who will be well positioned to provide more consistent quality, reduce waste, and increase their profits,” commented Karl Fritchen, president of QuadTech.

Pitney Bowes: The company registered a highly successful drupa 2012, with interest and signed orders across its document messaging technologies portfolio of customer communications technology and production mailing solutions.