What was going on in the halls of drupa ?

12 July 2024: By John Blyth, Ricoh Graphic Communications, Ricoh Europe.

On the one hand attendance was below expectations, by 50,000, over the course of the show’s 11 days in Düsseldorf. On the other, several major vendors proclaimed their success, Ricoh among them, highlighting significant order volumes and their satisfaction with the event.

Drupa’s attendance was more international than ever before, with a record 174 countries represented. Germans accounting for only 20 percent of the visitors, while Asia and America provided more than one third of the footfall.

So, we have fewer, but more international, visitors (and indeed some of the smaller halls were reported as being notably quiet at times) counterpointed by many large exhibitors reporting significantly exceeded expectations.

It might look like a paradox but in reality the changing profile of visitors, a reflection of fundamental shifts in the composition of the wider print industry, is driving the onstand performance of many exhibitors. Couple that with the first opportunity to do business face to face at a show of this scale, after a prolonged hiatus, and you have a recipe for plentiful deals.

Consolidation of the European print industry has resulted in fewer, larger, operations while economic growth has fuelled the buying power of many Print Service Providers who arrived in force from vibrant regions like the Middle and Far East. The print industry is not immune to the effects of globalisation, and developing pan-regional printing organisations and networks came to drupa in force, with the intention of investing in the future of their geographically dispersed businesses.

At Ricoh, we witnessed at first hand how the industry is evolving, with large orders placed by global players like Cimpress and regional powerhouses from Asia and Africa.

The growing ranks of the multinational, corporate print businesses mean an ever greater focus on productivity and efficiency. These companies, with demanding shareholders, investors, and clients, keep an eagle eye on operational costs, cashflow, and a host of other key metrics. They insist that their production equipment is as versatile and automated as possible with minimal downtime, waste, and energy costs.

This of course obliges the press manufacturers to provide technical solutions that are fit for purpose. Invariably, and it will surprise nobody, it is inkjet platforms that are best able to fulfil the rigorous and diverse needs. And so, we see that the inexorable rise of inkjet, caused principally by the well-documented shift away from Offset (to Digital), is also influenced by the changing composition of the print industry worldwide. As the new breed of mega printers put their faith into the inkjet business model.

So, drupa 24, a microcosm of the broad changes sweeping through our industry.

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