Show business

Mar 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Katherine O'Brien

Every four years, the printing community buzzes with anticipation about Drupa, the industry's biggest trade show. But Drupa is, indeed, different. First conducted in 1951, Drupa is held in Düsseldorf, Germany, every four years. More than 400,000 people from around the world are expected to attend Drupa 2008 during its run from May 29 to June 11.

Unlike a typical convention, the show isn't confined to a single hall, but sprawls along in a seemingly endless succession of 19 buildings. Some of the really big vendors, such as Heidelberg, have their own halls, and the massive equipment displays truly are mind-boggling. Visitors will see full-size web presses running and all formats of sheetfed and digital presses in action. From screen printing to flexography to offset to digital, virtually every printing process is represented among the 1,800 exhibitors.

Many North American Drupa attendees share a common goal: They want to see where the printing industry is going and meet the vendors plotting the course. Previous shows have ushered in a host of groundbreaking technologies.

Tim Burton, president of Burton & Mayer (Menomonee Falls, WI) attended his first Drupa in 1995. “I wanted to see the digital revolution,” he says, explaining that the first platesetters debuted at the show. Burton also spied an automated skid turner, a useful if not necessarily exciting addition to his company's 104,000-sq.-ft., 95-employee operation.

He returned in 2000 to look at presses and again in 2004 to get a general overview of digital developments. In 2008, he'll look at digital presses, larger format presses and press automation.

Burton's lasting impression is the show's size, “the huge Drupa campus” as he calls it, as well as some culinary surprises on the show floor: At one vendor's booth, he enjoyed a bowl of delicious homemade pea soup.

Welcome, buyers

But Drupa isn't just for printers. Recognizing that some print buyers are more interested in bottom-line results than press gears or toner particles, the show's organizer, Messe Düsseldorf, announced a new initiative, “Drupa Cube.”

A two-story pavilion will host programs on brand protection, green printing, magazines, catalogs, corporate publishing and the relationship between the arts and print. Attendees will include local marketing executives, publishing directors, production managers, account executives and creative directors.

“Our aim is to persuade those print buyers to visit Drupa who are less interested in technology and whose primary focus is on identifying new marketing approaches,” explains Manuel Mataré, Drupa project director. “At the same time, we want to drive home that print-based communications are a cutting-edge, entertaining, creative and efficient way of conveying information.”

Bright lights, PrintCity

PrintCity Alliance, a 10-year-old group of about 30 Drupa exhibitors, also has a dedicated buyer's program. Helmut Dangelmaier, president of PrintCity, recently announced two new projects: Print+X and the Print4Life Lounge.

Print+X, “The secrets of added value,” is a PrintCity Alliance project with Germany's f:mp (Fachverband Medienproduktioner) to research value-added printing. Three virtual brands of lifestyle and electronics products will be used as subjects in the testing process. The available options of value-added printing will be scrutinized and evaluated by study groups from different universities. PrintCity will present the Print+X study findings as well as sample media at Drupa.

Some vendors' displays also are targeting print buyers. Heidelberg, in collaboration with Adidas, will produce around 80 real-life print products on its presses, including posters, autograph cards, product and service brochures, and packaging products.

Xerox will demonstrate more than 50 applications that customers are producing today ranging from Internet-to-print collateral to direct mail, books, transpromo, packaging, and specialty printing to enable secure documents.

Hotels for Drupa are shockingly expensive and the weak dollar isn't helping. Many attendees book their rooms years in advance. As pundit Noel Ward has observed, 581,860 people already live in Düsseldorf. So, during Drupa, when an additional 400,000 or so people converge on the city, the population swells by about 68 percent, thus few hotel bargains are to be had.

Nothing compares to attending Drupa, but North Americans do have something of a consolation prize: Graph Expo. Graph Expo can't touch Drupa in terms of size, but it's an excellent venue to learn more about the cutting-edge technologies first unveiled in Düsseldorf. Graph Expo will be held Oct. 26-29 in Chicago. Margie Dana returns to moderate this year's Print Buyer Forum, a popular addition to last year's show. See www.gasc.org for more details. (Dana's 3rd annual Print Buyers Conference is slated for Sept. 11-12 and is another great opportunity to get the Drupa scoop. See www.printbuyersconference.com.)

Sing along

Drupa has its own song, a peppy ditty that is played at least twice daily throughout the entire show. Hats off to the anonymous composer — it's not easy to write a trade show anthem, but this one even manages to rhyme “networking event” with “good mood stimulant.” And you can't argue with the last line of the song: “It's the No. 1 print media fair… just be there!”

Contact O'Brien at KOB@americanprinter.com.

What's hot?

Here are five areas to monitor this spring:

Inkjet explosion

“Write this in ink: It will be the Inkjet Drupa,” says Frank Romano, professor emeritus, RIT. “Look for at least eight high-speed, high-quality roll-fed inkjet printers, initially for transpromo but also to challenge another level of offset litho.”

Agfa, HP, Océ, Kodak and Screen have already announced products, others, including Xerox, plan technical demonstrations.

Next generation of digital machines

Today's digital presses are excellent, but tomorrow's are even better. Look for faster systems capable of printing on a wider range of substrates. Canon, Konica Minolta, HP, Kodak, Ricoh, Xerox and Xeikon (Punch Graphix) have announced new models.

Offset marches on

“The technologies are targeting the problems today's printers face,” says Gareth Ward, editor of the UK-based Print Media Management/The Print Business. “This will mean a stress on efficiency through improved networking and reducing makeready times; on improving the versatility of the printing press through offering the possibility for adding coatings and other inline processes; and on productivity through printing at higher speeds and on larger format sheets.”

Heidelberg, KBA, Komori and Mitsubishi will showcase changeover innovations that help minimize downtime between jobs. Ryobi, once restricted to duplicators, will debut a new 40-inch press.

Green scene

“The other great movement at Drupa, partly achieved through lower makeready times and waste, is going to be the steady reduction in environmental impact of the printing process,” says Ward. “All manufacturers are going to emphasize how they are reducing the environmental impact of the press, and non-alcohol fountain solution is going to be everywhere.”

The great outdoors

Wide-format inkjet production has expanded beyond sign makers and digital service bureaus and is challenging screen printing for some applications. Companies to watch include Agfa (:Anapurna); EFI (Vutek); Epson (Stylus Pro GS6000); Gandinnovations (Jeti); Fujifilm Sericol (Inca Onset); HP (Scitex and NUR); Mutoh (ValuJet); Roland (SOLJET PRO); and Screen USA (Truepress Jet2500UV).

Drupa Notes

When: May 29 to June 11 in Düsseldorf, Germany

No. of exhibitors: More than 1,800.

Anticipated attendance: 400,000.

Website: www.drupa.com