The starting signal for the drupa world tour 2019/20 will be given on 10 September 2019 in Mexico City. After that, the tour will continue at close intervals until spring 2020. In September alone, seven more conferences and events will follow in Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Canada, Brazil, Chile and Argentina. By April 2020, events will follow in twelve Asian countries, the USA, Eastern Europe, some EU countries and North Africa. A total of 35 trips to 27 countries worldwide are currently planned. The organizers of the world tour in the run-up to drupa 2020 are Messe Düsseldorf GmbH and PrintPromotion GmbH.
“We are looking forward to exciting meetings with industry experts, journalists and representatives of local media partners, industry and trade associations,” says drupa Director Sabine Geldermann. High-ranking delegations consisting of the CEOs of various printing press manufacturers and leading representatives of PrintPromotion and Messe Düsseldorf will present the most important trends in printing and paper technology, present innovations in the graphics industry and packaging printing, and will inform about innovative applications in the field of industrial and functional printing. Of course, they will shed light on the status of preparations for drupa 2020. “Our aim is to arouse some fascination for the applications and possibilities of modern printing technologies in an increasingly networked world and to make experts want to visit drupa in Düsseldorf from 16 to 26 June 2020,” underlines the Managing Director of PrintPromotion GmbH and VDMA’s Printing and Paper Technology Association, Dr. Markus Heering.
Visionary technologies and multiple drupa highlights
In the run-up to drupa 2020, four future trends are emerging. They will also be the focus of the world tour conferences:
- Press manufacturers are driving forward the networking of their processes and are making increasing use of the possibilities offered by Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- Business models and cooperation between machine builders, customers and other industry players are undergoing rapid change, leading into the Platform Economy
- In today’s world, customers are online around the clock. The print and media industry must adapt to the changing needs of Connected Customers
- Growing environmental awareness, stricter regulation and finite resources require the transition to a Circular Economy. The print and paper industry has long been developing appropriate solutions that will meet with a rapidly growing demand in the future.
Many of the close to 1,800 exhibitors at drupa 2020 will highlight corresponding approaches. “The exhibition grounds are almost fully booked. The current booking level is above that of the 2016 edition,” confirms Geldermann. The positive booking situation clearly underlines the diversification of the product portfolios of exhibitors from around 50 nations – including around 400 new exhibitors along the entire value chain – which they see as a further indicator that the industry is conquering new territory and tapping new growth potential.
Networking of actors and processes
The attractive at drupa 2020 is also having an impact. Innovators in particular will find a wide range of presentation and networking options. For example, at drupa touchpoints, which are special exhibition areas that bring together a wide variety of experts from CEOs to design students or from global brand owners to start-ups, to discuss future solutions and designs in packaging, opportunities of industrial 3D printing or the possibilities of fully networked process chains in textile printing.
The drupa cube – the central conference area – will focus on how companies from the printing, media and packaging industries and their suppliers from the mechanical engineering sector can adapt to the rapid changes resulting from digitization. “We will be discussing such challenges on the drupa world tour and pointing out the possibilities for networking during drupa,” explains Geldermann. Markus Heering adds: “In the globalized printing industry, networking is almost synonymous with future viability. That is why we are all convinced of drupa 2020’s priority setting and its focused issues. With the world tour, we want to carry this message into all important target groups and markets worldwide.
From 16 to 26 June 2020, drupa will offer a 360-degree overview of modern process and value chains for the print industry. As a global industry meeting place, it brings together all the key players. The drupa world tour will promote this opportunity worldwide. “We spare no effort to convince visitors that drupa is of the utmost relevance for their business development and the future of their companies,” emphasizes Heering. After all, only those who stay on the ball technologically will be able to permanently meet the increasing quality demands on print products, the ever-shorter delivery times and the high cost pressure.
