The atmosphere at drupa 2016, the world’s biggest and most important trade fair for print and crossmedia solutions, can hardly be topped: the investment climate is extremely good and has far exceeded all expectations. As the 11-day trade fair draws to a close the 1,837 exhibitors from 54 countries unanimously reported excellent business deals, extremely promising contacts and a positive spirit for the global print industry. The re-positioning of drupa and its focus on future themes with strong growth potential – such as 3D printing, functional printing or packaging printing – proves to be a real asset. Be it publication, commercial, packaging or industrial printing – printing technology offers matching solutions for all of these applications while opening up new lines of business and business models at the same time. “The print industry is constantly re-inventing itself and offers a wealth of high-potential facets. And this is precisely what drupa 2016 has very impressively proven. We were able to experience a highly innovative industry here in the 19 exhibition halls, one that has succeeded in moving out of the “valley of tears” and grasping the future by the neck,” explains Claus Bolza-Schünemann, Chairman of the drupa Committee and Chairman of the Board at Koenig & Bauer AG. 

drupa 2016: trade fair of decision makers and capital spenders 
Some 260,000 visitors from 188 countries and some 1,900 journalists from 74 countries travelled to Düsseldorf to learn about technology innovations, further developments and new business lines. Visitors’ decision-making competence is extremely high: approximately 75% of all visitors are executives and in a decisive and or co-decisive capacity when it comes to capital expenditure in their companies. Various other indicators produced by the visitors’ survey also underscore very clearly that drupa is a flawless B2B trade fair and platform for business decisions: 
• 54% of visitors came to drupa 2016 with concrete investment intentions 
• 29% placed orders during drupa 
• 30% are planning to place their orders after drupa 
• 60% found new suppliers at drupa 

The development in visitor attendance (2012: 314,248) reflects the worldwide consolidation occurring in the industry. This is why visitors’ high decision-making competence produced a particularly positive effect, all the more as one in two visitors expected their companies’ business to develop very well over the next twelve months. “Customers – with very few exceptions – no longer come with large delegations or as part of a company outing to drupa. It is rather the top managers that travel to Düsseldorf today – and from 188 countries to this drupa,” explains Werner Matthias Dornscheidt, President & CEO of Messe Düsseldorf GmbH. 

drupa 2016: global No. 1 trade fair 
Totalling 76%, the percentage of international visitors is up 16% from four years ago. This figure can be attributed to Asian visitors: 17% of international visitors came from this continent alone (2012: 13.6%). And here India accounted for the largest share with 5%, followed by China with 3%. The leading European countries were Italy, France, the Netherlands and the UK. “This means that drupa has enhanced its global market significance and its international rating even further. It is the unrivalled global No. 1 trade fair for the print and media industries,” says Werner Matthias Dornscheidt commenting on the results of drupa 2016. 
 
Positive verdict for technical side events 
Meeting with high demand was the programme of accompanying expert events with its three pillars drupa cube, drupa innovation park, 3D fab + print, touchpoint packaging as well as Printed Electronics and Solutions. One in two drupa visitors were interested in the various special shows and lecture theatres. drupa cube, the event and congress location, was received particularly enthusiastically. Almost 3,500 drupa visitors flooded into the cube over the eleven trade fair days in order to find out about a plethora of topics. In particular high demand were the keynotes by Frans Johansson (founder and CEO of The Medici Group), Silas Amos ‎(founder of Silas Amos Ltd. Design Thought) and Shane Wall (Chief Technology Officer HP And Global Head of HP Labs). The Creative Day organised by Messe Düsseldorf in cooperation with W&V which addresses marketers and creative workers in particular, was even sold out. And the C-Level Sessions specifically targeting executives were also fully booked. 

Meeting with a very positive response was the drupa innovation park that focused on innovative business models in addition to technology innovations from renowned exhibitors. On display were ready-to-market applications for Augmented Reality in field service and in advertising but also successful examples for multi-channel campaigns. The crucial insights from the content-driven dip 2016: print creates content and added value! 

drupacity: an experience for all 
And drupa does not stop at the gates of the exhibition centre. Instead, Düsseldorf presented itself with a versatile programme as an attractive trade fair destination for all things drupa: be it an exhibition or 3D event, discussion forums or a “rolling lab”: drupacity allowed thousands of interested visitors to experience the trade fair themes – live and hands-on right in the city centre – providing both drupa visitors and exhibitors with tangible added value and a concept that is truly “one of a kind” worldwide. “Our concept of bringing the drupa themes to the city thereby making it possible for people to understand and experience technology has paid off 100%. Thanks to numerous city-centre activities Düsseldorf citizens and visitors were able relate to the trade fair themes. drupacity proved an experience for all,” reworked Boris Neisser, General Manager at the trade association Destination Düsseldorf, which organised the drupacity programme, who went on to say: “The many multipliers from all over the world felt welcome in Düsseldorf and will return to their home countries with these positive impressions. This is “city marketing live” representing a locational advantage not to be underestimated for our city.” 

As announced at the midpoint of drupa, the event will will stick to its four-year cycle meaning the next drupa will be held from 23 June to 3 July 2020. 


Exhibitors Testimonials: 

Asahi, Dr. Dieter Niederstadt, Technical Marketing Manager 
With drupa 2016 we see our efforts confirmed that visitors, prospects and customers changed their point of view in the flexo printing area completely. In today’s surrounding, stunning graphical quality is a given. Customers are more looking into productivity advancements of a product such as the improvement in overall equipment effectiveness, e.g. to reduced make ready waste and fewer press wash-ups. We were happy that we had the opportunity to explain the perfect solution of fixed colour palette printing in reference to extended color gamut (ECG) and drupa was a good podium for that. These OEE benefits create significant improvement at the print converter and has been a hot topic in our conversations at the booth. 

Bobst, Jean-Pascal Bobst, CEO 
The industries we serve today are searching for drastic productivity improvement through innovations, services and people relationship. Moreover the digitalization of the packaging supply chain is paving the way for the future. This year´s drupa has again been a great platform for us to demonstrate that we deliver the right solutions for our customers´ applications – be they folding carton, flexible material, labels or corrugated board. 

Canon, Jeppe Frandsen, Executive Vice President Canon Europe 
Canon came to drupa 2016 with the aim of demonstrating the range and depth of our capabilities in a way that reflected the real business of our customers. We set out to give visitors fresh ideas about how they could expand their capabilities and to inspire them to unleash print in their own individual ways. We’ve surpassed that objective on multiple levels. The response of visitors to what we’ve shown and discussed with them has been hugely positive. The deciding factor for so many Canon customers here at drupa 2016 has been the inspiration they have taken from the live print applications we have shown – so much so, in fact that for us it has been the ‘applications drupa’. Our many applications, offering significant added value particularly in the areas of commercial print and publishing, have given them confidence in the immediate business potential of our end-to-end solutions and, through their investments with Canon, they’re looking to ensure the long-term future of their businesses. In turn, our commitment far beyond drupa is to give them the long-term support to achieve their goals. 

CHILI publish, Kevin Goeminne, CEO 
drupa 2016 gave us the opportunity to show that CHILI publish has evolved a lot since it first drupa participation in 2012. With not only the launch of a new product but also the numerous partnerships, CHILI publish wants to emphasize that our company is growing and is becoming an important player in the industry. At the booth, we wanted to create a casual and cosy feeling where people were welcomed to learn more about CHILI publish and its products. Which has certainly paid off as the number of visitors on our booth exceeded our expectations! drupa gave us the opportunity to meet people we have only been in contact with via mail or phone and to strengthen existing contacts in real life. CHILI publish is looking forward to the next edition of drupa and will make sure to show many more innovations by then! 

EFI, Guy Gecht, CEO 
The USP of drupa is clearly the production plants in operation. This allows visitors to follow and assess the complete workflow. An asset no other trade fair in the world has to offer. 

Enfocus, Fabian Prudhomme, Vice President 
Again, drupa managed to attract visitors from all over the world, which gave us an extraordinary opportunity to touch base with our existing Enfocus community as much as with new customers. People who were not familiar yet with Enfocus had the chance to discover our solutions and the value these can bring to their respective companies. We showcased the endless possibilities of the Enfocus solutions during the 800 live demos we delivered on our booth. We are absolutely delighted with the feedback and votes of confidence we received from our visitors. Not only is this the result of our customer centric approach in everything we do, but I also believe that we succeeded in convincing our visitors that it is possible to not only touch the future but also automate it! This drupa was the most successful edition for Enfocus yet and we are already looking forward to drupa 2020. 

Epson, Duncan Ferguson, Executive Director, Professional Printing & Robotics, Epson Europe 
This drupa is Epson’s biggest ever showcase for our most complete range of inkjet printers for prepress, signage, photographic, textile and label applications. We have had a very successful show with significant orders from companies around the globe, particularly for the SureColor SC-S signage range, which has led us to increase production to meet demand. Interest in our SurePress L-6034UV digital label press, commercialised at drupa, was high with orders taken at the show from Germany and the UK. Our Print Shop Zone too was extremely busy and attracted huge interest from visitors discovering how our desktop solutions enable them to offer a collaborative design-and-print service to produce personalized products. 

 
Esko, Udo Panenka, President 
At drupa 2016, Esko exhibited with its sister company X-Rite Pantone and subsidiaries Enfocus and MediaBeacon. Spread out across six Inspiration Zones, visitors experienced the combined innovations to improve the steps of a typical packaging production workflow. Bringing that message and demonstrating the value add of a connected and integrated workflow has come across really well for the many visitors we welcomed at our stand. This drupa helps us to reconfirm our leadership position in all domains of packaging and labels workflows; the overwhelming amount of visitors from all over the globe exceeded our expectations both in closed orders as well as in new contacts. 

Goss, Eric Bell, Marketing Director 
Achieving More Together’ was undoubtedly the right theme for Goss this drupa. We’ve had a very successful show, working side-by-side with our partners, and this will be continue to be the most logical way forward to support not only our existing customers, but new prospects too. Our drupa 2016 successes include significant product orders, signed for live on the stand; the sale of the first Goss Thallo system since acquiring of this product line from DG press ServiceS; and the launch of another Goss industry-first, the embedded color bar for web offset packaging production. All in all, drupa 2016 far exceeded our expectations and confirms that our approach to business, with our customers and partners at the forefront of our strategy, is the right direction for Goss moving forward. 

Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG, Gerold Linzbach, CEO 
We are very satisfied with the outcome of the trade fair. Thanks to drupa Heidelberg starts into the new business with a positive outlook. Our motto Simply Smart was a success with visitors. We received a high demand for our industrial printing ranges and exceeded our own targets. The further automation of offset printing produced a high number of contracts signed especially for our high-performance presses. Together with our partner Fuji we have set new standards in industrial digital printing. The debut and market launch of our new digital printing machine Primefire 106 was extremely promising prompting worldwide sales for packaging applications. With drupa tailwainds we are on course for growth. 

Highcon, Aviv Ratzman, CEO and Co-Founder 
drupa 2016 has been a tipping point for our business. We launched our technology at drupa 2012, but this one has been a real reinforcement of our vision. Sales to both new customers and existing customers have surpassed our expectations by far. drupa has been confirmation that digital technology, and finishing in particular, has reached the point where it is becoming mainstream. Many of the customers we met during drupa have realized the need to start investing in technology rather than continue to expand capacity, adding value to their products instead of competing on price. 

HP, Francois Martin, worldwide marketing director HP Graphics Solutions Business 
drupa 2016 has been a landmark show for HP. It is clear that digital has arrived as mainstream, with HP experiencing the best attendance at any drupa ever and with sales not only surpassing 2012 results by 20%, but exceeding our 2016 ambitious goals by 25% overall. drupa continues to be the most relevant industry event for innovation, and HP is committed to keep reinventing to help our customers reinvent their own possibilities, ensuring that drupa 2020 is better than we could imagine. 

Ink Router, Robert Godwin, Director of Business Development 
Our first time exhibiting at drupa was a great success. It made it possible for us to introduce our dynamic new product, InkRouter to visitors from all over the world. One of the largest fairs in the world brought us in contact with leaders in the printing industry, which offered us the opportunity to network and to create more brand awareness and brand recognition. Sabine Geldermann, Global Director of drupa and the Messe Düsseldorf team did a great job, I’m glad we were part of this event. drupa 2016 has exceeded our expectations and we are already looking forward to the next edition! 

Kodak, Olivier Claude, Worldwide Director of Sales and Customer Operations 
drupa 2016 completely exceeded Kodak’s expectations. Tens of thousands of high caliber visitors, customers and prospects from around the world visited our stand to do business and see the more than 20 products and technologies Kodak launched at this year’s show. The fact that we hit our sales target on Day 7 – and having reached 168% of our sales target on Day 9 - is testimony of the industry’s trust in our cutting edge technology, which helps our customers deliver on profitability, sustainability and growth. 

Landa, Benny Landa, Chairman 
drupa 2016 will be remembered as the inflection point in the industry’s transition from mechanical printing to digital. In the past, digital printing vendors had to try to convince the market that digital is the way to go. Previously it was a ‘push’ selling motion. Now, for the first time, the situation has reversed. There is a very strong ‘pull’ from the market, driven by both customers and brand-owners, who are now demanding digital printing. It seems that the market leaders – in packaging, commercial printing and in publishing – have come to the realization that they simply must go digital. For Landa Digital Printing, this market awakening has been particularly rewarding, as reflected in the substantial number of orders which we took at drupa. Customers are telling us that no one comes even close to matching our quality, speed, substrate independence and print cost, which combine to create a tremendous value proposition. 

Massivit 3D Printing Technology, Lilach Sapir, VP Marketing and Business Development 
This drupa is Massivit 3D first presentation at an international trade fair. It was a great chance for us to present our 3D printing solutions made for printers in an exhibition for Print Service Providers. Our expectations are more than fulfilled. We had some nice sales mostly to large/wide format printers who understand that the use of 3D printing is their future and enables them to add another dimension to their business and grow their services and business in the visual communication world. 

Mimaki, Mike Horsten, General Marketing Manager EMEA 
drupa always gathers visitors from all around the world and from all different segments of the printing industry. Our 295 sq. booth was a success and attracted a large audience during the 11 days of show! The drupa organisation was as impeccable as ever, and it manages to keep up with the trends in an evolving industry. We had the chance to talk to our customers and discuss how Mimaki can support them with future opportunities. Our Design Book was a big hit, as it shows what kind of applications Mimaki customers have already developed in the past and it thanks our clients for their creativity. This portfolio also inspires people and shows the amazing results that emerge when we create together with our clients. 

QuadTech, Karl Fritchen, President 
drupa 2016 has been a fantastic show for QuadTech! We wanted to reach specific printing markets with the launch of four new products. There is no better place than drupa to connect with those markets, and take advantage of the bright spotlight. Not only was the quantity of show visitors very high for us, but also the quality. It seemed that almost all were customers or potential customers of our print technology. We experienced very high interest and extremely positive response to our ColorTrack, DeltaCam, Inspection System and MultiCam TRIM introductions. After investing heavily in new technology innovations, drupa gives us the opportunity to meet with our markets directly, and show them the fruits of our labor. 

Ricoh, John Blyth, Market Development Manager & Production Printing Business Group 
For us drupa 2016 has been all about enabling Ricoh to open new worlds of opportunity to new and potential clients alike. We have been delighted by the strong and steady flow of visitors on to our stand. There is nowhere like drupa for bringing decision makers in our industry, from all corners of the globe, together. 
Most notable of all for us has been the relative seniority and influence of so many of those we have been proud to host on our stand. They seem to have appreciated the warm open welcome and the way Ricoh has set out a clear narrative that covers the full, integrated breadth of services and solutions that we offer. In production printing and beyond. From multi-drop inkjet to additive manufacturing, end to end workflow to neon toner and lean and green consultanc. Drupa 2016 has been eventful. But overwhelmingly in a positive way and we are already looking forward to drupa 2020. 

Scodix, Amit Shvartz, Vice President of Marketing 
Gaining over 100 new customers in 11 days, Scodix had an extremely successful drupa 2016. The largest exhibition in print provides a hugely popular forum and within this buzzing environment, we saw sales doubling and doubling with each coming day. With an incredibly fruitful launch at the show in 2012, we saw our company grow from 12 to over 200 customers and drupa played a vital part in that accomplishment. We hoped for similar success in 2016 and the show has exceeded all expectation. Scodix’ vision to ‘enhance your competitive edge’ and drupa’s message of ‘touch the future’ went hand-in-hand for us at the show and we saw these synergies demonstrated by phenomenal business results. 

VDMA, Dr. Markus Heering, Managing Director of the Printing and Paper Technology Association within the German Engineering Federation (VDMA) 
Not only our own VDMA stand got an enormous respones, our member companies also gave us the feedback that the quality of conversations they had and the numner of lead and new orders were extremely positive. Our manufacturers have made use of the lately difficult years to develop custom-fit solutions for the changed needs in the print industry. We have every reason to look to the future with optimism. Print is an industry with a future! 

 
Xeikon, Danny Mertens, Corporate Communications Manager 
drupa 2016 was a special edition for us, as it was our first major show since we were acquired by Flint Group. The booth, including a number of Xeikon technologies and Flint Group presence, made this collaboration visible for our visitors. With the theme “X marks the spot”, we wanted to mark our position in the market. We are pleased to say that once again, drupa 2016 has been a successful edition for us. We aimed to create an open and welcome atmosphere at our booth and this was more than visible through the amount of visitors on our stand every day. It gave us the opportunity to get in contact with partners, competitors, existing customers that we have known for years and new, future customers from all over the world. drupa is a unique experience, not only by its size but most of all by its diversified public. Countdown for the next edition in 2020 has started!