Drupa Spotlight: Manoj Mehta, All India Federation of Master Printers

I was especially fascinated with the strides Benny Landa’s Nanographic Printing Press have made and I am already looking forward to the next Drupa where I fully expect him to display production machine occupying an entire hall.

 

Landa has signed strategic partnerships with $4.7bn (£3.2bn) turnover US commercial print giant Quad/Graphics “to penetrate publishing”; and with Vistaprint owner Cimpress, which is planning to install as many as 20 presses

 

Scodix is the company that has stolen a march this time at Drupa. The Israeli manufacturer have sold 25 digital enhancement presses in the first three days of the show and 14 more on Friday. Their E106, which is being shown in public for the first time at Drupa, is a B1-format multi-function digital enhancement press for short to medium-length runs and crossed double digit in sale already.

 

Heidelberg has stamped their authority with their ‘Push to stop’ philosophy and their partnership with Fuji for digital-offset combo seems to work well for them.

 

In terms of 3D printing possibilities, Israeli start-up Massivit have showcased the future for the visitors. The Massivit 1800 'print' hollow 3D shapes of up to 1.8m tall, 1.5m wide and 1.2m deep. It can create shapes with flat tops and shapes with no visible means of support, such as arms, by first printing a strut that is used as a support.

 

Other notable mentions so far include the LED UV manufacturers who I think will have a significant role to play in the near future. Taiwan-based SBL group who are making a great comeback with their post press machinery while another Taiwanese company Wen Chyuan continue to lead in the lamination category.

 

Overall the homework that I’d done has paid dividends so far, with a fair bit of help from the tips by Noel D’Cunha on the top ten must-see: My Drupa has been beyond amazing.