It's a wrap! Local industry has its say on drupa

drupa means different things to different people. From the renewal of offset to the growth of green, the four-year trade show is both a reflection of the printing industry's present and a look into its future. Print 21 caught up with a number of locals who made the trip to find out what they had to say.

David Procter had not been to drupa before. The national manager of Konica Minolta had visited Pacprint, IPEX and IGAS, but 2008 marked a milestone for him when it came to tradeshows.

"Nothing compares with the spectacle of drupa," he said.

Joining him at Konica Minolta's stand with David Palmer, national product manager, (left) were a number of Australians, both clients and passers by, stopping to see what was on offer.

"The local interest from Australia was very surprising, but as far as reaction from clients and customers, they were suitably impressed with the next generation of machines due to be released," he said.

Konica Minolta is currently in the process of releasing a new toner for digital presses, referred to as a High Chroma toner. The toner gives clients the ability to soft proof work using the Bizhub Pro C6500 and generated strong interest from the audience.

"When we showed people samples of work printed with traditional printers they were happy with the results," Procter said. "But when we showed them what the High Chroma toner could producer they were stunned because it was so much better. It provides one of the widest gamuts of CMYK toner available in the digital market."

Will Procter return in 2012? "Yes," he answered. "With some better shoes."

Fours years is a long time between drinks. During that time, the industry has shed its oily skin for green pastures.

Mitch Mulligan, managing director of Bottcher Australia, (pictured below) noted that visitors to the Bottcher stand (nestled away in Hall 16) were all very interested in the company's new generation of dampening compounds which help to reduce emissions.

  "It's heartening to see people purchasing equipment with that in their hearts," Mulligan said. "Four years ago that would not have been the case."

Russell Cavenagh, sales director of DES describes the overall tone of drupa as "buoyant." This optimism was also reflected in the success of DES' stand where he noted a keen interest in the PrintSpec software along with products from EFI and AVT.

"People are all very concerned with adherence to print standards," he said. "I was very impressed with the way the show was put together."

Aiming high
With a slogan of HEI Value and HEI Performance, Heidelberg had very high hopes from drupa, but Andy Vels Jensen, CEO of Heidelberg ANZ can rest assured that the trade show reached the expectations of both the company and its customers.

Vels Jensen revealed that Heidelberg merchandise sales alone cleared AUD$160,000 during the two weeks.

"We can say that overall Heidelberg are happy with sales at the show and Asia Pacific, by a far stretch, overachieved the target set," he said.

He maintains that sales are only one aspect to a trade show and that "key to Heidelberg is the opportunity to explore areas of productivity and efficiency with our customers ... and for customers to feel even more confident that they are dealing with the best possible long-term partner to create value and performance in their business."

Hiedelberg's Speedmaster XL 162 drew the crowds to its halls, leaving no spare seats, or even standing room for those who did not get in early.

"The launch of the Very Large Format (VLF) 162 format was eagerly anticipated by the industry and did not disappoint," said Glenn Plummer, general manager of marketing and product management.

"The press enjoyed immediate order success at the show. So much so that production is now sold out and delivery time is up to 12-18 months."

Show me the money
Phillip Rennell of The Currie Group, stuck it out for the entirety of drupa and reaped the rewards.

"It was a successful campaign that we were very happy with," he said.

Though Curries had representatives on all its major agencies, he lists HP as a highlight, owing mainly to its new release HP Indigo 7000 and 5500.

"From a HP point-of-view, a lot of people were surprised by how impressive it was," he said. "The Indigo has become a mainstream product."

Not surprisingly, the Indigo 7000 and 5500 drew the crowds and the orders. "Orders were strong across the board and our presence was well rewarded with strong sales," Rennell said. "It's a long, hard show but very rewarding."

Chemistry-free drupa

Chemical-free plates and industrial inkjet were the two highlights for Agfa Graphics. Marketing manager, Garry Muratore, (pictured with Stefan Van Hooren, CEO AGfa Graphics) reported strong sales for the company.

"Agfa Graphics signed contracts in excess of 100 million Euro, reflecting strong interest in its innovative portfolio of market-leading products," he said.

Sales were not at the forefront of EFI's mind, but Ian Pulrang, sales development manager, said the company was pleasantly surprised with the results.

"The show is not generally a revenue-producer for us; we don't go into it with that mindset," he said. "But we achieved phenomenal sales."

The show was also a special one for EFI as it celebrated the Hagan and ProGraph receiving JDF certification. "There's a huge difference between being certified and being compliant," Pulrang said. "This means that we can now work with other companies that are certified like Heidelberg and manroland."

Just what drupa was that?
Ever since drupa 2004, people have been predicting the theme for this year's drupa. Offset seems to have surprised everyone as one of the main contenders (See Print 21 editor, Simon Enticknap's blog). Pulrang and Bottcher both noted the prevalence of offset at the show.

"People were describing drupa as the digital or workflow show, but offset was a huge part of it," Pulrang said. "Offset is taking huge advantage of JDF technology."

Fuji Xerox Australia also reported strong sales from the traditional offset market during drupa.

Nick Kugenthiran, general manager of integrated sales and marketing, said that the stand attracted more than 200 Australians. "Fifty per cent of these were customers we had not engaged with traditionally: the offset market," he said.

It may only happen once every four years, but all  visitors and exhibitors approached by Print 21 agreed that drupa is worth the wait.

"I think that in four years' time drupa will be back stronger than ever," Pulrang said.