Drupa road shows in Mumbai and Delhi

The events will see presentations on Drupa 2016 by Sabine Geldermann, director, Drupa and Dr Markus Heering, managing director of VDMA, a print and cross media solutions company.

On the impact of the exhibition, last held in 2012, Bernhard Schreier, president, Drupa 2012 and board chairman at Heidelberg, had said that it was a resounding success for the printing industry. “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. Here, in Düsseldorf the business was done and points were set for the future of the sector,” he had said.

Werner Matthias Dornscheidt, president and CEO, Messe Düsseldorf, added, “Total 3,14,500 experts from more than 130 countries came to Drupa in Düsseldorf in 2012.”

With more than 1,90,000 foreign visitors, the international focus of Drupa continues to be high. What is striking here is that India, with 15,000 trade visitors, rank as the second largest visitor nation at Drupa after Germany (1,23,000 visitors). Following behind these two are Belgium, France, Netherlands, Great Britain, US, Switzerland and Italy.

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 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.

Drupa 2016 will take place from 31 May to 10 June 2016 in Düsseldorf, Germany.

Three-year cycle
After 2016, Drupa will switch to a three-year cycle running in May of 2019, 2022 and 2025.

Claus Bolza-Schünemann, chairman of the Drupa Advisory Board and president of Koenig & Bauer Group, said, “The entire print process chain has changed radically because of the internet and digital technologies. New applications and solutions are developing and opening up new fields of business. At the same time, there is more focus on innovative technologies, such as 3D printing, printed electronics and functional printing. It’s more important than ever before that our customers have an overview of the latest technology and are also inspired to use new business models and solutions. Drupa is the only specialist trade fair in the world to offer this– and will do so every three years in the future.”

One positive side-effect of this change is that Drupa will no longer run in 2020, the same year as Interpack, the world's most important trade fair for the packaging industry and the closely related process industry.

“The Drupa exhibitors who specialise in packaging printing would have found 2020, an incredibly stressful year. So the change will clearly benefit customers," said Werner Matthias Dornscheidt, President and CEO, Messe Düsseldorf.

The precise dates haven't yet been finalised, but it's clear that Drupa will take place in the traditional Drupa month of May in 2019, 2022 and 2025 in Düsseldorf.

Messe Dusseldorf is optimistic about Drupa 2016. Are you? Cast your vote here: www.printweek.in