German specialized trade fair for printing industry

For the Drupa 2012 there is a lot of previously detailed preparations in the form of developing new technologies, production of mega advanced machines, multifunction equipment and know-how techniques. How great is the importance of this fair show the number of presenters and visitors at Drupa 2008. 'Over 390 000 visitors from 140 countries and approx. 3,000 journalists from 84 nations obtained information about innovations, further developments and new business areas, while talk was of numerous billion-figure investments. As a result, Drupa was able to further extend its global market significance and international standing. At 59 percent, the international visitor quota was thus around 4 percentage points higher than four years ago. Since Drupa 2000, the number of international Drupa visitors has been consistently rising - to a current total of 230,000. In this connection, the share of visitors from overseas this year has risen by an encouraging 43 percent (2004: 40 percent). This growth is due in particular to the Asian and American specialists and experts: the event attracted 15,600 visitors from South and Central America, 11,700 from the USA and 50,500 visitors from Asia. Along with the visitors' decision-making competence (44 percent are from top management) and the investment potential (70 percent of overseas visitors came to the event with specific purchasing intentions), this is an absolute top result.' (Taken from Facts and Figures from Drupa 2008) For Drupa 2012 expectations are even greater. For greater visibility fair is divided into 8 main categories, each category is then branched into the appropriate subcategories. The main 8 are: 1. Prepress and Premedia 2. Print 3. Post press and Paper converting 4. Paper and substrates 5. Printing Inks and Consumables 6. Components and Infrastructure 7. Services and Software 8. Others Due to the large international character of Drupa, there is organized guides for visitors every day in English and German, and Chinese, Spanish and French every 2-3 days. So here are some small parts of what we are going to see on Drupa 2012. One of the leading companies in printing and packaging industry Heidelberg Druckmaschinen AG performs under the motto 'Discover HEI' in which we will see around 60 innovations. The main focus will be on completely new series of sheetfed offset presses under the name Speedmaster SX which combine the cutting-edge technology of the Speedmaster XL class with the tried-and-tested platform of the Speedmaster SM series to form a new performance class. Digital print solutions will be presented with model Linoprint C and in the field of Post Press and Paper converting we will see the new folder gluer Diana X80. With a working width of 80 cm (31.50 in) and the new Diana Inspection Control and Diana Braille modules, this machine is the perfect solution for processing demanding pharmaceutical packaging and requires very little space due to its compact design. From BOBST we will see quality control devices that check 100% of customers' production, whether it is the print on a carton or the density of a metalized film or printing inks,and new approaches for existing systems which reduce process waste, improve net production, or can cut make ready times by 10% or more. Another giant in printing industry KBA will be presented on 3500 m2 space floor and we can see five sheetfed offset printing presses in small, half, medium and large format (three of which are completely new), three web offset installations for commercial, packaging and newspaper print (two of which are completely new) and the new inkjet web press from KBA will be complemented by a five-color Rapida 106 coater for waterless UV offset and a Genius 52UV on the neighboring stand of Japanese partner Toray Industries. So this is only a very small part of what can we see on upcoming Drupa 2012 and my advice to all connected with graphic industry is 'wear comfortable shoes and be at the top event for printing and packaging industry this year'.