It was Drupa 4.0, we were touching the future, and from 10 o’clock onwards on day one the buzz from Düsseldorf’s Messe was palpable. “Drupaaaaa, is in town agaaaaain” blared round the 17 halls, and print enthusiasts from around 190 countries knew that once again they were home.
260,000 visitors strolled down the aisles of the Messe, 76% of which were from outside of Germany. Overall visitor numbers were down on 2012 but the per-day average was higher, according to show director Sabine Geldermann.
Unsurprisingly, with 55 live presentations and a host of other media appearances, it was the sheer charisma of Benny Landa that once again stole the show. Anyone who didn’t have the opportunity to watch one of his five daily Landa presentations will come away feeling slightly aggrieved. According to Landa, 40,000 managed to see it.
Sales figures were high, with many of the biggest manufacturers reportedly smashing their targets. HP surpassed 2012 sales by 20% and exceeded its 2016 sales goal by 25% overall. It was especially pleased with its performance in the Asia-Pacific region, with sales targets exceeding 150% for the area.
HP worldwide marketing leader for digital graphics solutions Francois Martin is overjoyed with how the show worked for his company. He says: “Drupa altogether is a unique exhibition because you see the best of the industry in one place, in one location. That is really unique. And it is memorable, as people are going to see things that you only can see here. “So it was relevant, unique and memorable, those are the three things that customers are telling us. And that is a combination of what we do at HP, and what Drupa is offering as a platform.”
Nano takes off
Landa’s charisma may have stolen the show once again, but sales of Landa’s new S10 and W10 Nanographic printing presses were just as much a hot topic. “Drupa 2016 will be remembered as the inflection point in the industry’s transition from mechanical printing to digital. In the past, digital print vendors had to try to convince the market that digital is the way to go. Previously it was a ‘push’ selling motion,” says chairman Landa.
“For Landa Digital Printing, this market awakening has been particularly rewarding, as reflected in the substantial number of orders that we took at Drupa.” Landa’s announcements were as large scale as its domineering Hall 9 stand. It claimed over €450m (£355m) in orders for its Nanographic presses. Despite still selling the promise of products to come, there were also Landa beta-site announcements with companies in the US and Germany, and a first UK signing for a Landa W10 Web Press, from flexible packaging specialist Reflex.
Kodak Prosper presses flew off the shelves, with seven being sold in total: two mono machines and five four-colour models. Kodak worldwide director of sales and operations Olivier Claude says: “Drupa 2016 completely exceeded Kodak’s expectations. The fact that we hit our sales target on day seven – and having reached 168% of our sales target on day nine – is testimony to the industry’s trust in our cutting edge technology.”
Some commenters could be heard referring to this Drupa as ‘Dru-Pack’, with corrugated presses and packaging emerging as major hot topics. There were debut showings for Heidelberg’s new Primefire 106 B1 press and the announcement of HP’s C500 PageWide corrugated press, with more on that in the near future.
“The Primefire 106 was definitely a highlight of the booth. It’s been a very, very positive reaction. Everybody wants to be the first, or the first in their country,” says Heidelberg board member for equipment Stephan Plenz.
Canon also unveiled a prototype of its B2 Voyager, an inkjet photo products press, available from 2018.
By Max Goldbart, Monday 20 June 2016, Source: PrintWeek
