Drupa on wry

Jul 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Katherine O'Brien KOB@americanprinter.com

I don't care what anybody else says. Drupa 2008 wasn't the Inkjet Drupa. It was the Sandwich Drupa. Düsseldorf is 24-hour sandwich town. In one week there, I ate more sandwiches than Jared Fogle has in his years on the Subway Diet. Much like the steam table food found in New York City delis, an endless supply of sandwiches mysteriously materialized at the Messe, at the train station, in supermarkets and on every street corner. Did they come from one central source, a streamlined hub of covert sandwich operational efficiency? Stay tuned — my investigation will resume May 3-16, 2012, when Drupa returns to Düsseldorf.

In the interim, I will join my fellow 391,000 Drupa visitors in analyzing what we learned at the show. As with prior events, some machines, originally touted as the greatest thing since sliced bread, ultimately will prove to be a bunch of baloney. But it's equally true that some unheralded innovations will go from wurst to first.

Sustainability was a key Drupa theme. Many proactive printers already have made their operations greener — we look forward to celebrating their accomplishments with our inaugural Environmental Excellence Awards.

The big trends

Inkjet

You couldn't throw a rock without hitting some kind of inkjet machine at Drupa. Inkjet is well established for label, signage, bindery and other applications. Drupa 2008 marked the debut of some wider format machines, most of which claim offset-like quality. While some of these machines still are in the early stages of development, it's the one area virtually everybody will be watching in the months to come. (See p. 44 for more inkjet news.)

Moving on up

Several digital and offset press vendors debuted products in categories they previously had left to others. On the digital side, Konica Minolta and Ricoh introduced production class machines. Offset expansions included Ryobi's 40-inch 1050, Komori's 41-inch Lithrone SX40 and Heidelberg's 57-inch XL 145 and 64-inch XL 162. On the web side, Goss will install its first 96-page web press in 2009. The vendor also showcased the M-600 Folia, a dryerless web press intended as a long perfector alternative.

What else can we do for you

Printers can expect help from their press vendors that goes far beyond demonstrating ROI on a potential purchase. Almost every major press vendor announced consulting programs designed to help printers boost productivity across all facets of their operations. One of the top vendors expects consulting services to represent at least 25 percent of its annual revenue by 2011. Many press vendors also are expanding their consumables offerings.

It's a different world

An NPES-sponsored PRIMIR/PIRA study projects the U.S. print market will grow 8.1 percent from 2006 to 2011. During that same time period, double-digit growth is forecast for Brazil (52.9 percent), China (60 percent) and India (73 percent). So it's not surprising that international visitors accounted for 59 percent of the total number of Drupa visitors, a 4 percent increase vs. Drupa 2004. North Americans represented 6 percent of the attendees, about the same as in 2004.

“The real surprise was the newest group of developing countries — the Middle East and Africa (MEA),” says Ralph Nappi, president of NPES, a trade association for equipment suppliers. “Just like the BRIC countries, this next group of global players is stepping up.”

Nappi explains that BRIC nations' growth provides opportunity for equipment suppliers — particularly those that manufacture in the United States — to capitalize on growth markets as well a weak U.S. dollar.For U.S. printers, however, these conditions, coupled with digitization, may result in more outsourcing.

In general, Nappi came away from the show with an optimistic outlook. “This Drupa represents the largest exhibition our industry has ever seen, and one of the largest gathering of graphic communications professionals,” he observes. “This is certainly not an indicator of an industry in a precipitous decline [as is often popularly supposed]. While there are competitive threats to our industry, adaptation has always been the recipe for success. Consistent with show management's reports, my visits to member booths confirmed that serious and committed buyers were buying equipment at the show.”

One important note: The Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 offers considerable savings on printing, publishing and converting equipment sold and installed before 2009. But as Nappi emphasizes, “Early action will be critical to take advantage of the tax savings on the sales of large systems that require engineering lead time and installation.” See www.npes.org.

One world, one YouTube

The 2008 show also could be dubbed the YouTube Drupa. More than 40 videos have been posted online. Kevin Donley, vice president of sale and marketing, Grand River Printing & Imaging, provides real-world perspective (http://multimediaman.wordpress.com).

Kudos to the student group at www.atdrupa.de. They interviewed many leading vendors as well as industry pundits such as JDF expert Stephan Jaeggi, Frank Romano and Andy Tribute.

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