Introducing drupa 2016 The print and media industry is changing. New technologies are establishing themselves and disruptive technologies emerging. Messe Düsseldorf’s drupa, Europe’s quadrennial, premier event for the print world, will again be listening to the pulse of the industry this spring. With the headline themes of print, functional printing, packaging production, multichannel, 3D printing and green printing, drupa responds to and reflects this change.
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ith all 19 halls of Messe Düsseldorf once again sold out, drupa will be the focus of the global print industry at the end of May, and the stage for many of the year’s biggest product launches and announcements. Alongside the exhibition, the organisers have worked hard and innovated to ensure that the show is also the place to be for top-level discussion about today’s big trends, challenges and opportunities.
‘touch the future’ Under the motto of ‘touch the future’, drupa 2016 will focus more heavily on future-orientated technologies such as printed electronics, 3D printing and inkjet printing with its industrial applications. These innovative technologies are driving the market forward and are opening up significant opportunities and growth potential worldwide, primarily in the field of packaging, functional and industrial printing. “We recognised the growth potential of these markets very early on and successfully set in motion the special ‘PEPSO’ (Printed Electronics Products and Solutions) exhibition at drupa 2012, for example,” explains Werner M. Dornscheidt, chairman of the Messe Düsseldorf board. “At drupa 2016 we 12 Industry Europe
will cover this topic with additional events in the specialised programme and in the form of special shows, known as ‘touch points’.” The market for 3D printing is developing even more dynamically. The global market volume is currently estimated at around US$ 2.2 billion. The Association of German Machine and System Engineers (Verband Deutscher Maschinen- und Anlagenbau) that recently founded the company Additive Manufacturing, is anticipating an annual growth rate of 25 per cent. “We have therefore developed the ‘3D fab+print’ brand specifically for this market segment,” says Werner M. Dornscheidt. “At drupa and other relevant Düsseldorf trade fairs, we are joining forces with other exhibitors in 3D printing technology and bringing greater focus to the entire topic of 3D”. The response from the industry to this strategic realignment at drupa is clearly positive, as confirmed by the level of registrations. Claus Bolza-Schünemann, chairman of the drupa exhibitor advisory board and executive president of Koenig & Bauer AG, welcomes the new drupa. “In the online age,” he comments, “there has been much discussion in our sector about the usefulness of trade shows. However, the internet simply cannot
replace direct contact with people and ideas in the global print and media marketplace, or indeed direct experience of the latest technologies and solutions for this enormously varied market. At drupa 2016 we are again expecting lively interaction for both tried & trusted and the very latest ideas in all areas of print and crossmedia.”
Crossmedia and multichannel The internet and digital communication overall has changed print in a fundamental way. This is emphasised by the current ‘drupa Global Insights’ report entitled ‘The effects of the internet on printing – the digital flood’. Interaction is the name of the game. Big data, web-to-print, variable data printing and internet-supported tools such as augmented reality and QR codes characterise and impact the entire cosmos of printed products and the complete workflow. Here drupa is pulling out all the stops with its highlighted topic of multichannel printing. Hewlett-Packard, an active member of the drupa committee since 2013 and a top ten exhibitor at drupa, confirms the new direction: “Communication between people is evolving just as quickly as technology,” reflects
