Conferences in Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia give an outlook on the printing processes of the future
• Preview of technology trends and concept for drupa 2020
• Leading suppliers of printing and finishing technology hold four
specialist conferences in three Southeast Asian countries
• PrintPromotion, the VDMA Printing and Paper Technology Association and Messe Düsseldorf cooperate with local printing associations
The countdown is on: drupa starts in exactly 195 days, on 16 June 2020. For eleven days, the printing, media and packaging industry will gather in Düsseldorf for its world's leading trade fair and take a joint look at their technological future.
For several weeks now, the drupa world tour 2019/2020 has been running to highlight competitive technology trends for players from the printing, media and packaging industries, to present the extensive drupa programme – and also, to arouse joyful anticipation. After stops in North and South America, this week (5 and 6 December) the tour will stop in Hanoi and Saigon. After the two specialist conferences in Vietnam, two further conferences will follow on December 10th and 12th in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and in the Thai metropolis of Bangkok.
drupa world tour shows technology trends which may make the difference
At all conferences, drupa director Sabine Geldermann will present the current status of preparations as well as current exhibitor figures. She will also provide the concept of three drupa touchpoints as special exhibition areas, the drupa cube's conference programme and in addition the new meeting zone between start-ups and established exhibitors - drupa dna.
Claus Bolza-Schünemann, drupa President and CEO of Koenig & Bauer AG, and Dr Markus Heering, Managing Director of the VDMA Printing and Paper Technology Association and PrintPromotion GmbH, will explain key technology trends at drupa 2020 and their impact on the printing and packaging industry.
Four megatrends with partially disruptive potential
In the spring of 2019, leading drupa exhibitors met for future-workshops - and in this context identified four megatrends, which might potentially disrupt today's routines in the printing and packaging industry; it's about Artificial Intelligence, Connected Customer, Platform Economy and Circlular Economy. "These trends will profoundly change process flows in both the printing and packaging industries”, stresses Markus Heering. Especially in the increasingly globalized market environment, it is going to be vital for suppliers of printing and finishing services to keep a close eye on the technological future and to maintain their own competitiveness through appropriate investments.
"In order to remain competitive despite increasing customer demands for quality as well as for delivery times and increasing cost pressure, enterprises will have to establish more efficient, highly automated processes. Otherwise, connected customers will switch with a click of the mouse to those competitors who can offer them up-to-date services," warns Heering. At the same time, the industry has to deal with society's demand for environmentally friendly, sustainable products. The aim is to transfer those recycling solutions that are already highly developed in many areas and regions into a global circular economy.
Leading drupa exhibitors explain future technology for the pressroom and post-print sector
At the conferences in Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand, eight leading suppliers of printing and finishing technology or packaging solutions will present concrete Print 4.0 approaches – taking up the named megatrends. Press manufacturers such as Heidelberg, Koenig & Bauer, Windmöller & Hölscher and H.C. Moog will be presenting digitally networked, highly automated technology for the press hall. In addition, suppliers of post-press and finishing solutions, such as Mueller Martini, LEONHARD KURZ Stiftung & Co. KG, and POLAR-Mohr, as well as the specialist for light-based drying and curing technology – IST-Metz – will give an outlook to the future in their respective specialist areas. Be it fully networked digital cutting systems, fully automated Finishing 4.0 for cutting, stitching and binding brochures and books of variable formats or be it "Digital Foiling" for metallizing and seamless finishing of printed products – whether in commercial printing, industrial printing or packaging. Panel discussions will round off all the four specialist conferences.
"We have put together an exciting program that provides participants on site with concrete insights into drupa planning and the technological future of our industry. We would like to show them why a visit to drupa 2020 will definitely be worthwhile," says Heering. In order to reach as many experts from the industry as possible on site, PrintPromotion GmbH, the organizer of the conference, cooperated closely with the respective national printing associations. "We thank the leaders of the Vietnam Printing Association, Malaysia Printers Association and Thai Printing Association for their support," he explains.
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