Drupa, the panacea for all our pains

Drupa opens today with an almost unbearable weight of expectation on its shoulders. Having lost the 2020 event to Covid, many feared that the world had changed such that international trade shows were no longer needed or wanted. Visitors will notice spaces around the show, a symptom of spaces that have not been sold or of companies that have not turned up. Convincing the entire industry that Drupa has a valid future is the first challenge that the show faces this year.

The second challenge is due to the structural change taking place across the industry across the world. Competition from digital marketing channels has led to a steep reduction in demand for commercial print especially for long run catalogues, magazines and promotional material. This has made gravure print virtually extinct and is putting severe pressure on web offset. At a smaller level competition from digital channels is squeezing litho print into smaller packages. Even Heidelberg concedes that the two-page market is lost to litho and is now for digital print alone. The question of whether there is a future for print as we have known and loved it hangs over this show.

But to step inside the 18 halls is to enter a world of optimism, where the idea remains that buying this or that piece of equipment will transform your business persists. Here print has a future that is embellished, that is on wildly interesting substrates and that is pertinent to the consumer. Print has a second life. Of course, packaging is the answer to many of these questions, for suppliers of equipment at least. For others it is how to cope with shorter runs, fewer staff, reluctant customers and the digital challenge. It is easy to believe that the exhibitors at Drupa have the answers and for the next 11 days at least, it will be the case that they do. Drupa can be the answer to the industry’s problems – for the next 11 days at least.