8 years waiting for Drupa, expectations were quite high!

Is this because the expectations were so high that my disappointment is so steep?

I will go straight to the point: sorry to go against the grain of the enthusiasm shown by the profession on social networks, but this DRUPA 2024 was, for me, a real disappointment. I was expecting it (the show, not the disappointment, although…).

First, I will precise that my reflection is based on a truly short visit (2 days, Tuesday, and Wednesday of the second week of the show). Certainly, too short to have a full picture of the show, to see all the booths, to discuss with every exhibitor etc.

Maybe this is in our DNA at Codimag not to be mainstream (but nevertheless trendy!), and sorry if I offend some readers, but this event is clearly highlighting the path of these big events: Costly, and marketing driven, instead of being an innovation spot.

We could not say that there were no one in the halls. But if I limit my feeling to my first impression when I entered the East gate mid-day Tuesday, I would be drastic. That was empty and sad. This is what I felt. Awful feeling, really.

The mood of the exhibitors was mixed. Of course, many of them were busy, and enthusiast about the “good visits,” the “many prospects” and so on, but also many of them told me, under confidence, that they were disappointed by the audience not so crowdy. Everyone told me spontaneously that the car parks were empty, at their big surprise. You may say that everyone comes differently in 2024… but on Wednesday morning, I arrived at the exact opening hours by public transport, and I cannot say neither that it was crowdy.

But let us focus on the reason why I went to Drupa! Technology and market trends!

Is this only me looking for this? A “One every 4 years” event should be dedicated to this topic, right?

What I was expecting:

• Machines with modern technologies, showing live demos in more and more “real” environment.
• Progress in digital printing, especially water-based inkjet.
• Connectivity, data and software solutions
• Technologies around the machines to improve efficiency.

What I saw:

• Plenty of booths with a focus on packaging, labels… A good thing, especially for players already active in this market. But is this really a new trend, or only a confirmation of the existing trend of the last show in 2016?
• Big booth from big players, full of emptiness, big screens, very few machines (so many stands replacing machines by virtual demos or live demos in their facilities!), and even fewer machine actually printing. I cannot blame machine manufacturer for limiting movement of machines, especially the biggest one. It is just a fact that Drupa cannot be the location to see the biggest machines on site.
• An enormous mountain of arguments to promote digitalization, data, connectivity, environmental concerns… but not at least one breakthrough innovation, or something I had never seen before.
• An impressive number of Chinese exhibitors and a noticeable increase in Indian exhibitors compared to eight years ago. However, in terms of attendance, my limited perspective observed a particularly high number of Indian visitors.
• Many buzzwords such as “Power”, “innovate”, “Digitalize” “Green” and of course my favorite the Landa “Love story” …Are they all use the same marketing agency or is this only chat GPT helping everyone write your speech?

What I actually did not see:

• The real Wahoo effect in front of new idea, a new concept
• A focus on reliability or durability of the equipment from exhibitors. The race to performance should not forget reliability! Environment concern is not only waste removal or waste recycling, nor carbon compensation! It is also not changing your machine every 4 years because it is obsolete or supposedly obsolete!

I cannot avoid a digression on digital printing, clearly everywhere in Drupa. I will not deny the progress of digital printing technology (especially inkjet), over the last 8 years but once again I would like to add some nuance to my strategic thinking on the subject.

Today for sure, digital printing is important for most of printing companies. And the big actors in digital printing are clearly outperforming “conventional” printing machine manufacturers in Drupa, especially in terms of

• Number of machines displayed.
• square meters occupied.
• Media coverage.
• Cumulated size of screens on the booth (note that I will give for this an honorable mention to Koenig & Bauer and Heidelberg that have also the central round full screen feature, impressive, but do I really want to be placed in the middle of screens when I make a multi hours trip to visit Drupa)…

But wasn’t it already the case in 2016?

And on the long run, we have been told for more than 30 years that digital printing will replace conventional. I am still convinced that as long as we oppose the technologies instead of using them in the best way we can, for each job, each market, we cannot understand the beauty of the printing market!

Just few quotes or figures for reminder

Benny Landa: 1993: “Everything that can become digital will become digital. Printing is no exception.”

Carly Fiorina, HP CEO 2002: “HP currently plays in only 4% of the 18.4 trillion-page printing industry. With Digital publishing featuring HP Indigo solutions, we are going after the other 96%”.

2016: according to FINAT report, the market share of the labels printed in digital is between 7,2 and 9,7% in value. That means around 3% in volume.

And now for 2024? Everyone has the digital buzzword on the lips (either digital printing, or digitalization of the process, the machines, the … everything): Landa is dreaming of a “love story” (with his customers?? The ones who paid a downpayment several years ago just to be on a waiting list ?), trashing offset with spectacular bins of offset plate and waste, without showing its flexible packaging machine whereas Heidelberg was the only one surprising me with the Anicolor ?(offset anilox system) demo - not the youngest technology, but certainly the most beautiful show of job change, with a stable and proven technology, corresponding on the market trends, shorter run, lower waste, performance, productivity, and immediate startup! This is the difference between dreams and reality!

I have read several interesting posts recently, but this one from Eddy Hagen is very interesting!

?

So no, it is not tomorrow, or even in the next 20 years that digital printing will replace all the other technologies. And as I always said: printing is putting ink on a substrate, digital printing is one way to do so, among other!

To conclude, I will start with a pessimistic note.

I am afraid it can be (one of the?) last Drupa edition. Of course, I do not want it. I would deeply regret it; organizers will certainly find figures to promote the success of the event but let us face the reality: Drupa is no longer the expected event it used to be. This technological event, the one every 4 years milestone where the whole printing world meet.

I was pleased to pass good, but short, time in Düsseldorf, meeting old friends, discovering new companies, smelling the marketing bullshit of the professionals of our market. And this may be the reason why I am so disappointed. I won't deny that marketing and communication is very important but we operate in an industrial and technological market. So decisions of the buyers should be led by analysis, not by feelings or emotions, and absolutely not by "love story" ! And when I have heard about the price paid by some exhibitors for the space…. It confirmed me that this kind of big trade event is no longer for companies like Codimag.

But the good news (and positive note to close my post) is that it is not because we are not at these show that we are not innovating, certainly in better ways that most of the exhibitors at Drupa! Product, technology, sustainibility - not only environmental friendliness, but also in business model for our customers. There are so many ways to innovate. Let's print the future together!