drupa 2012 sends out Trendsetting Impulses for the Print Sector

Trade Fair of Innovations and Investment Success across the Board: drupa innovation park and drupa cube presented by digi:media

drupa 2012 is sending out key impulses for the worldwide print and media industry. The most important signal: print has potential and the sector is investing heavily in its future. This trend was already visible at the event’s half-way point and exhibitors reported the conclusion of numerous deals all over the world. This willingness to invest continued unabated in the second half of the trade fair. 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. Numerous business ideas and innovations were showcased here that all led to high investment. What the 1,850 exhibitors presented here over the past two weeks will strengthen the development potential of the print and media industry long term,” says 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”.

314,500 experts from more than 130 countries came to drupa in Düsseldorf, 75,500 less than in 2008. “This drop 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,” explained Werner Matthias Dornscheidt, President & CEO of Messe Düsseldorf. “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.”

“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,” says Dr Markus Heering, Managing Director of the Print and Paper Technology Association within the German Engineering Federation VDMA. Numerous orders were placed during the fair. 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 now 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. drupa visitors come to drupa with specific investment intentions. Nearly 50% of all visitors place specific orders – and most of these right 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% compared with 44.4% in 2008).

With more than 190,000 foreign visitors the international focus of drupa continues at a very high level. What is striking here is the high number of trade visitors from India which, now reaching some 15,000, ranks as the second largest visitor nation after Germany (123,000 visitors). Following behind these two in the country ranking are: Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Great Britain, the USA, Switzerland and Italy. It is particularly gratifying to see the rising proportion of visitors from South and Central America (8.8% in 2012 compared to 7% in 2008) – and more specifically from Brazil. The press checking in at drupa 2012 is also highly international in nature: the approx. 2,400 journalists come from 75 countries.

The dominating themes at drupa 2012 were automation, packaging printing, digital printing, hybrid technologies, web-to-print applications and environmentally sound printing. For instance, 40% of visitors said they were interested in digital printing machinery and digital printing systems. Also attracting great attention was the future theme printed electronics which was highlighted at drupa in a variety of fields: at the drupa innovation park, drupa cube, in a Highlight Tour 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. Offset and digital print solutions complement rather than compete with each other here.”

Also producing a positive result was the specialist supporting programme. Over 20% 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. “The innovation park at drupa 2012 is one of the most unique areas because it focuses on new ideas. Many new ideas are not worthy of a huge stand, but they must be presented in some way that people can see and understand them,” explained Frank Romano, Professor of Meritus, Rochester Institute of Technology/USA. “drupa is one of the most interesting trade shows because it does this. It finds areas which are not in the mainstream, but will be. So the drupa innovation park is an innovative idea in and for itself.”

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 German-English congress 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.

The next drupa will be held from 31 May to 10 June 2016.

Exhibitors’ Quote:

Atlantic Zeiser

Marcus Geigle, Communications Manager

“We didn't have very big expectations about the number of visitors but never the less those that came were of a very high quality and that is the most important thing to us. For Atlantic Zeiser it enables us to really see if our product offering hits the right point for our key industry sectors in packaging - pharmaceutical and cosmetics -and we have. The second big point is the topic of hybrid printing and for the first time we are showing a solution on the KBA Rapida 105 (Hall 16 Stand C56) using our Delta system.  This is proof that digital print solutions are now able to cover the same high speed and quality as offset. We are now showing that it is a reality.”

CIP4 Organization

Jim Harvey, Executive Director

“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 both printers and vendors here at drupa and sense a positive attitude about the industry throughout drupa.”

DirectSmile

Harry Raaphorst, Managing Director

"drupa was my first show in the role of Managing Director for DirectSmile and what a show to start with! It has been a huge success for us. Presenting in the dip provided a great platform to communicate the power of personalised marketing campaigns to visitors and our booth was always busy with printers from around the world who were keen to watch us demonstrate the new features of DirectSmile Cross Media. It was fantastic to meet so many of our customers and hear about their latest, most creative campaigns, as well as speak to numerous people looking to explore the new business opportunities available to them by introducing cross media marketing services. I’d also like to express our gratitude to our worldwide partners and resellers for their support and cooperation during the show.”

Esko

Jeff Stoffels, Director Corporate Marketing

"Esko had a great drupa. Not only did we overachieve 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. Visitors to our booth reacted very positively to Esko's enterprise solutions, and how they help to improve customer design, pre-press and production workflows."

Flexocleaners.com

David Mausolf, CEO

"A very good show, attendance has been excellent! Being in the dip’s Green Printing Park is a bonus, we are busy with meetings and writing orders."

Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG

Bernhard Schreier, Vorsitzender des Vorstandes

"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. We can now also look to the future with optimism. "

Highcon

Aviv Ratzman, CEO

"drupa was an excellent platform for launching the Highcon Euclid, the Direct-to-Pack concept and the company’s many partnerships. Heavy stand traffic and a standing-room-only press conference demonstrated that drupa is still the place to be. We reached agreements with key distribution channels, gained leads from all over the world and secured a considerable amount of business, exceeding our best estimates and expectations. This was an exceptional company and product launch and we would like to thank all those companies who visited us during the show."

HP Graphic Solutions Business

Francois Martin, Worldwide Marketing Director

"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. As such, drupa 2012 proved itself this year to be a show for all ‘print’ markets where visitors come to do business around commercially available solutions. While HP clearly showed its continued commitment and investment in these markets, I wish to thank all HP customers including dscoop members for their confidence and support, and the incredible effort of the HP drupa team which facilitated this success."

Kodak

Antonio Perez, Chairman & CEO

“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."

Kuka Roboter GmbH

Peter Fornoff, IBD Manager Print & Paper Industry

"The drupa innovation park is a very good spot for us, a very good point to make contacts and to answer all questions."

Koenig & Bauer AG

Claus Bolza-Schünemann, Vorstandsvorsitzender

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. These were followed by classic markets like the USA, UK, Italy and Scandinavia. However, in the Benelux, Czech Republic, Brazil, South Africa, Turkey, North Africa, South-East Asia, Australia and relatively small countries like Bulgaria, Croatia and the Lebanon KBA was able to post a high level of orders in relation to population. 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. Initial deals for the Inkjet-Rotation are anticipated soon. Commenting on this Claus Bolza-Schünemann said: "We have signed many deals with existing and new customers. However, we and the other exhibitors can only pronounce a serious verdict on drupa 2012 in a few weeks or months when we have received down-payments from our customers.”

Kolbus

Kai Büntemeyer, Vorsitzender des Vorstandes

"For 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 – and I can say: our expectations have been far exceeded. We were particularly surprised at the great interest from Brazil and India. We were also pleasantly surprised by the number of concrete business deals with customers from France and the UK. To my mind, drupa 2012 showed one thing very clearly: smart investments that increase productivity are the key to business success. For us as machine builders it could not have gone any better."

Landa

Benny Landa, Founder, Chairman & CEO

"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 (Letters of Intent with deposit) 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.

MGI Digital Graphic Technology

Victor Abergel, Executive Vice President, Managing Director

"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 over the entire 14 days and even on the last two days. We welcomed to our stand top notch trade visitors from over 50 countries, especially from Asia, the USA and the Middle East and Africa. We are so happy with our trade fair success that we have already agreed to participation at drupa 2016. drupa is simply a good place to do business."

Mimaki Europe

Mike Horsten, Marketing Manager

"It's hard to believe drupa 2012 has come to an end already. 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. The drupa revelation was the Landa nanographic printing system. Mimaki proudly contributed to the show's success. The dancer's colourful clothes were printed on Mimaki printers - hence the liveliness of the act!"

PrintCity Alliance

John Dangelmaier, President

Rainer Kuhn, Managing Director

“Our focus is to encourage industry networking & knowledge sharing under the theme ‘Connection of Competence”, states John Dangelmaier, President of PrintCity. “I talked to many important brand owners, designers & printers, explaining the possibilities and new effects created for Value Added Packaging”, explains Rainer Kuhn, Managing Director of PrintCity. “Visitors from all over the world got inspiration from the effects & advantages you can achieve, using techniques & materials from creative businesses working together. These benefits are not just from visual or haptical features. They also include linkage to electronic media, plus highlighted savings through lean & green production.” Rainer Kuhn and John Dangelmaier agreed - “Our best ever PrintCity drupa for networking & cooperation!”

Ricoh Europe

Peter Williams, Vice President, Head of Production Printing Business Group

“drupa 2012 has been an outstanding success for Ricoh. Visitor numbers to our booth far surpassed drupa 2008 as have the number of new contacts we have made and sales orders that were placed. The show was the perfect platform to showcase our entire, expanded proposition. We have been delighted to demonstrate everything we can offer professional print businesses – in print, and beyond. So, besides strong interest in our various new products, our innovation and environmental zones were always busy as decision makers in production printing learned more about our leading position in these fields. And how we can guide them along the transformation path that is right for them. drupa 2012 enabled Ricoh to send out a very strong signal that the future is bright for Ricoh, and, above all, our clients.”

Toray

Izabela Batko, Sales and Marketing

“For Toray drupa 2012 has been the best show ever with the highest attendance at Toray booth to date. The number of leads have more than doubled compared to those generated at previous drupa exhibitions with serious customer prospects asking for technical support to convert to waterless has been higher than previous exhibitions. We had hoped for higher interest due to our live demonstrations of the clear advantages in on demand printing, but the result even exceeded our expectations with hundreds of spectators. It is obvious that printers realise that they have to diversify and broaden their product spectrum to remain competitive as printing on paper is reduced. However, many were not previously aware of the versatility and efficiency waterless UV offers, such as immediate finishing and shipping of the print jobs. Due to our live demos and kit with high quality print samples we also had higher interest from educational institutions interested to learn about the waterless printing technology and its advantages compared to other printing methods.”

Xeikon

Wim Maes, CEO

"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."

Xerox Corporation

John Ahlman, Senior Director Global Experiential Marketing

“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 100,000 visitors – one in every four drupa attendees – and our exclusive Cirque du Soleil performances added something unique and special to the drupa 2012 experience. drupa is great for the industry, our customers and for Xerox.”

Your Contact:

Press Office drupa 2012

Monika Kissing

Anne Klaus (Assistant)

Tel: +49(0)211-4560 543

Fax: +49(0)211-4560 8548

KissingM@messe-duesseldorf.de

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