appointments  drupa 
With the world’s biggest trade fair, the giant drupa exhibiton, just two months away, Wayne Robinson interviews drupa president Albrecht Bolza-Schunneman. . What impression will printers receive when they visit drupa 2004?
They will feel like they are visiting the Olympic Games for the industry – that they are at the heart of the summit meeting for printers. They will have the opportunity to get up to speed on innovative production methods and individual publishing solutions. The international reach of this range promises to spark visitors’ own business ideas, facilitate industrial print production and foster a positive investment climate.

2. What will be the major themes of drupa 2004?
The traditional and digital automation of printing processes will be a key theme at drupa 2004, primarily because strategic changes made by manufacturers and suppliers of machinery and systems in the run-up to the fair have generated significant impetus in the digital printing market.
Workflows will be another focal point, especially as industry-wide digitisation and networking have made it possible to leap the company divide and fully integrate the production circle, which begins and ends with the client. Small companies in the sheet-fed offset sector that still run labour-intensive operations and don’t have a niche market will face fierce competition from industrially produced printed products.
This is where new technologies are called for: fundamental to achieving networked printing shops are standardised interfaces. Thanks to the work of CIP4, the “International Corporation for the Integration of Processes in Prepress, Press and Postpress”, networking is within reach for our industry. Making it happen is JDF (Job Definition Format), which will in all likelihood be one of the defining topics at drupa 2004. This order format is the most important common denominator for networking processes in the printing industry.
To keep pace with networking in prepress and the pressroom, converting also needs to be automatically controlled – which brings us to another central topic. Until now, demand for folding machines, perfect binding or gathering and stitching plants with networking capabilities was limited. That is set to change at drupa 2004, especially as renowned manufacturers represented in or closely associated with the CIP4 Consortium are expected to showcase innovations and new developments in this line.

3. Why is it important for Australian printers to visit drupa 2004?
At drupa 2004, Australian printers will encounter the most comprehensive range of production methods, materials and services. Some 1800 exhibitors from 50 countries will be showcased in Düsseldorf. As the world’s number one fair for printing and paper, drupa is a unique communications forum where experts strengthen their business contacts and gather in-depth information for their investment projects.

4. Conversely, if a printer does not go to drupa will there be any impact on his/her business?
Those who don’t make the trip to the world’s number one printing fair can easily lose sight of what’s happening in the industry. When I say that, I am thinking specifically of the concentration process that has taken place in the supply industry over the last few years. But I also have the entire process chain in mind – from prepress and press all the way to converting – seen from the point of view of networking.
The printing industry is faced with ever greater demands. Even those who constantly travel across the globe will only ever see the latest technologies and solutions in such a compact format at drupa in Düsseldorf. Here, a printer’s every desire is met through general or detailed insights into trendsetting developments. That’s why so many visitors from all corners of the earth keep flocking to drupa. This platform is the hub for the entire print media industry. It is here that you embark on your journey into the future – or miss the boat completely.

5. Can you expand on your comments that drupa 2004 will determine the direction of print media for years to come?
drupa 2004 has come around at just the right time. The slight improvement in the economic climate promises to create a favourable environment for investment that has long been held back. Following hard times, the world’s number one printing fair is an even more significant event than ever. In order to survive, the printing industry must invest in the latest technology and optimised workflows.
Companies need to reassess or even reset their course at increasingly shorter intervals. What’s more, it should be apparent to every printing house that communication with clients has changed with the advent of digitisation. This has triggered the need for a shift in strategy for the coming years.

6. How have drupas in the past shaped the development of the global printing industry?
In its 50 years in the industry drupa has always invoked a sense of new departures. The duration of this mood is, however, invariably dependent on economic conditions. The last five decades have borne witness to a whirlwind of technological change.
Our industry has seen and shaped more global innovations over a short period than almost any other in the world. Sheetfed and web offset caught hold, polychrome printing has become the norm, phototypesetting ousted lead types and today computer-to-plate and digital printing have arrived on the scene. The new media, too, are impacting on the development of the printing industry.

7. You have described drupa 2004 as a ‘gateway to a new age’ - what do you mean by this?
drupa 2000 was marked by the euphoria surrounding the new economy. The possibility that the internet combined with digital technologies could provide competition to the printing industry was then regarded with great scepticism. Now, although the internet does offer competition, it is of greater assistance to the printing industry.
The internet, including e-mail, has subsequently come to be seen more as a tool and less as a competitor. It is used as a medium for gathering information and buying materials because it saves money, time and transport. Thanks to the internet, business communications between client and printer and vice versa have been simplified and shortened.
Data can be exchanged between any two locations – across borders or continents. As I see it, this offers global access to printing and binding on demand, and therefore opens the door to a new age.

8. How confident are you that JDF will become a significant force in print?
As I have already mentioned in response to the question about the key drupa topics, JDF is the single most important aspect for creating networked processes in the printing industry. All the eminent companies in the supply industry for prepress, press and postpress are moving in the same direction in this regard.
The driving force behind JDF will, however, be major clients who, for some time already, have been turning to printing houses which have quality and environmental certifications. Aside from adhering to deadlines and prices, they also attach importance to data formats and interfaces. Which is not surprising, when printed products are ordered globally and electronically. At the end of the day, placing the order has to make sense for the client.

9. What is this level of confidence based on?
With the passing of time, CIP4’s sway has intensified greatly. There is no doubt that the printing industry had a need for standardised data formats such as XML, PDF and JDF. Production-related data can now be correlated with commercial information, production facilities for printing and converting automatically detect presettings and addresses are extracted from databases for use in customisation. What is more, media-neutral data are transformed into printed and electronic products for cross-media publication. The broad basis of support which these rationalisation effects enjoy is enough to inspire confidence in anyone.

10. drupa 2000 was notable for the new dotcom companies, which have mostly since collapsed. Nonetheless, many predict the internet will still present opportunities and threats to printers. What will drupa 2004 visitors see of e-commerce?
I am not aware of how individual exhibitors view or intend to showcase e-commerce. My belief that the internet has a lot to offer the printing industry has already been pointed out.
I would, however, like to draw your attention to the special presentation, “software innovation parc” with the integrated activity area “dynamic document parc”. Here, visitors to drupa 2004 will be presented with a framework for all things relating to intelligent software for the field of print and media. Before a broad audience, young creative companies will make their debut here with, among other things, workflow automation and PDF applications for media production, JDF as well as internet and security systems. In addition, several companies will showcase jointly developed products and solutions that facilitate document generation, for example, database, dynamic document and XML publishing as well as PDF-server and PDF-library applications.

11. On a practical note, how many days do you think a visitor coming from a typical print company should spend at drupa, and what advice do you give to printers when it comes to making the most of drupa 2004?
I don’t think that there is a one-size-fits-all way of determining the duration of a visit to drupa. Each printing house has, to a greater or lesser extent, its own individual production systems and intelligent business models. Even if similar companies were facing a backlog of investment projects as a result of an ongoing decline in orders, they will usually have set their priorities for making investment decisions on new machinery and systems, hardware, software as well as skills at entirely different levels.
This means the duration of a visit should be planned based on your areas of interest. In my opinion, the online portal, www.drupa.com allows visitors to prepare very successfully, even if they are based very far away. During the fair’s run, various guided tours to exhibitors associated with specific topics will be on offer. You can also learn a lot by making enquiries among members of the international supply industry with a presence in Australia. There are sure to be one or two exhibitors who, aside from the exhibits at their stands, can show you examples of machines in action somewhere in Greater Düsseldorf.