drupa 2024 certainly confirmed the expectations, after all 8 years of absence were starting to be a long time, and all of us at a certain point experienced with trepidation the wait for the opening of this edition, visited by over 170 thousand operators from all over the world
Let’s start with the numbers: 1,643 exhibitors from 52 nations, an international participation of 80%, with visitors from 174 countries. After Europe, Asia was the most represented region with 22%, followed by America with 12%. 170,000 thousand visitors in the 11 days of the event, there are those who think that these are still too many, others consider this an adequate period of time for the amount of investment and commitment in terms of set-up, but one thing is certain, and it has appeared evident from the first day of the fair, the quality of the visits proved to live up to right from the first days, with many companies, also from Italy, choosing to visit drupa. It’s true, these are no longer the numbers of a fair that has always been able to exceed 200 thousand visits, but it should also be underlined that the world has changed, and whatever were the expectations, 170 thousand visitors, mostly qualified, represent a good success. There is no other fair in the world in the printing and converting sector capable of achieving these goals. It is probably worth reflecting on the duration and costs that are truly excessive, from the trip, to the hotel, from the stand to the simple dinner in the Altstadt, everything was really too expensive.
We will also see the developments that a fair of this magnitude will bring to the market in the coming months, however, speaking with the Italian exhibitors, we did not receive any complaints, far from it, the level of satisfaction was more than good.
Andreas Pleßke, president of the drupa committee, underlined the exceptional positioning and relevance of drupa: “drupa stands for new contacts and new technologies like no other fair and confirms itself as the largest and most important global platform for our sector, offering the possibility of technological updating, networking and closing of important commercial operations which have not been lacking this year too”.
Approximately 96% of all visitors confirmed that they had fully achieved the objectives of their visit. Over 50% came from the printing sector, followed by the packaging sector, whose share increased significantly and many exhibitors focused on it as a growth driver. Among other things, in a fair that now talks about packaging in every corner and hall, never like this year there have been important delegations of international brand owners who wanted to visit the event, confirming the trend that now sees all the actors of supply chain to dialogue and collaborate with each other in a circular vision of the business and no longer verticalized. From traditional offset, flexo and gravure printing technologies, to digital ones, passing through converting ones and also analyzing the workflow part, everything at drupa 2024 talked about flexible packaging, labels, folding boxes and corrugated cardboard, and we are sure that in the future this trend will be even more evident.
Automation and workflows at the center
Automation was a focus at drupa this year, with a strong focus on artificial intelligence and intelligent workflows, including software solutions, and drupa has consistently demonstrated that the sector has great potential for the future, even in a context with many challenges, and that the perspectives are promising. In the last financial year, the global printing industry achieved a turnover of around 840 billion euros (source: Smithers) and continues to develop at variable rates around the world. The centrality of the data, its analysis and the need for printing and converting companies to be able to manage daily production, but also to be able to choose which strategies to adopt for the future, has highlighted the companies that develop and offer software management systems which, also thanks to the dialogue with production technologies, from an Industry 5.0 perspective, have become fundamental for a correct company management.
“At drupa 2024, we experienced first-hand how relevant and resilient this sector is”, summarizes Sabine Geldermann, drupa director, Portfolio Print Technologies. “The community is determined to chart together the course for the future together. The exchange of ideas with people from all continents and all sectors was extremely enriching and inspiring. We welcomed around 50 large delegations from various countries, and many associations and organizations active at a global level have chosen drupa as the ideal setting for their conferences and meetings. Together we are stronger. Many new strategic alliances concluded at the fair reflect the opportunities that are possible in such a concentrated form only at drupa”.
Another aspect, which emerged predominantly when visiting the pavilions of Messe Dusseldorf, is the increasingly transversal collaboration between different players, finally abandoning the old patterns of the past which led companies to close themselves, instead embracing the idea that also thanks to collaboration we can grow, expanding skills, presence and market shares. Allying between players in the same supply chain, exploiting synergies for mutual benefit and therefore offering customers a single interlocutor for the entire process, but also alliances, agreements and collaborations on single initiatives or production technologies.
Synergistic projects, which saw us personally protagonists for this edition of drupa 2024, faced with a common stand together with friends and colleagues from Innovative Press (Rassegna Grafica, Rassegna dell’Imballaggio), with whom we shared the space and costs. A success that was well understood by all our customers, and which we will certainly repeat in the future, to be able to guarantee a presence at as many events as possible.
Finally, if there is one aspect that this edition of drupa has highlighted, it is its ability to offer, in addition to a look at the latest innovations already on the market or introduced immediately after the fair, also a vision of the future trends in the sector, increasingly driven by increased automation of production processes.
The dates of the next edition have not yet been made official, but it is confirmed to take place every four years in 2028.
