print media messe drupa - Diversity by Design

Published: June 30, 2004, By Yolanda Simonsis, Associate Publisher/Editor

Messe Düsseldorf's quadrennial exhibition for print media offered a diversity of products designed for package printers and converters.

Ask any editor who's ever attended Drupa what he/she thinks of the show, and the reflexive response is a weary look followed by a long and exaggerated exhale of air. At 162,000 sq m of exhibition space - the largest Drupa ever - the show was merciless to people who must crisscross the fairgrounds multiple times in a day. But on the [sore] heels of this response, particularly in reference to the recent Drupa, held May 6-19 in Düsseldorf, Germany, was an enthusiastic, “good show!”

In this editor's opinion, Drupa delivered not only on its promise to meet the needs of commercial printers as usual, but this time, more so than at any other time in the past, a serious emphasis on package printing and converting was evident throughout the exhibition. This edition of Drupa was something converters could embrace, and they can expect further enhancement at the next show scheduled for May 29-June 11, 2008.

Attendees weren't the only people sporting pleased smiles over the quantity of new products introduced to serve their printing and converting needs, vendors were extremely heartened over the number of sales that took place directly from the show floor. When I asked one vendor of print inspection equipment whether he felt the show was successful, he whispered in my ear, “Fantastic!” Other vendors appeared to corroborate this sentiment. Albrecht Bolza-Schündmann, Drupa president as well as president and CEO of Koenig & Bauer, observed, “Drupa 2000 will always be remembered as the millennial event - Drupa 2004, however, has a more far-reaching significance for the entire industry. It brought back optimism [also see PFFC, June '04, p6] and a sense of a fresh start for the international print media industry.”

While only a few pages are available for coverage in this issue, rest assured further treatment will be given to product introductions in future issues. Here are highlights of products and news you'll read about soon.

For Bobst Group, Drupa represented an opportunity to show their refreshed strength as a diversified company, particularly in the flexible materials business area since the acquisition earlier this year of converting operations from Metso (formerly Valmet Converting). The company unveiled 12 world premiers with five machines from its Flexible Materials Div. alone.

Ashe surprised visitors with the introduction of a shaftless, rotary shear, driven system that simplifies and speeds manual knife setup and changeover.

Creo held to its theme of “business acceleration” to solve challenges unique to each printing segment. Among its many announcements, most impressive was its introduction of Traceless powder taggant for product authentication, detection of fraud, and counterfeiting with tamperproof marking and sensing technology. In addition, its Spotless printing technology was claimed to allow printers to represent spot colors on press with process inks for dramatic reduction of special inks (also see p52). New ThermoFlex Wide CTP sleeve imaging for flexo and HyperFlex resolution enhancement also captured converters attention. Also impressive, the Exactus thermal gravure system, adapted from its core imaging technology, completes the workflow circle for Creo in each printing method.

Rexroth Bosch Group announced the innovative concept of parallel, in-line, and multi-web synchronous processing via Synax 200 technology to eliminate multiple and time-consuming off-line operations.

Scitex Vision debuted its wide-format digital press, dubbed TURBOjet, specifically targeting the high-image quality display and large format sector.

Flint-Schmidt announced its new Astrathane MF ink as a multifunctional ink system for strong bonds when laminated and for both surface and reverse flexographic and gravure printing.

For a round-up of Drupa products, check out PFFC's What's New Products this month at pffc-online.com/mag/paper_whats_new_69.