appointments  drupa 
Sydney gets a taste of drupa 2004 With just a shade over a year to go until the global printing industry’s flagship event, the drupa 2004 tradeshow, Messe Düsseldorf in conjunction with the Printer Magazines Group brought a sample of what to expect to Sydney with the drupa 2004 Technology Roadshow.

The Technology Roadshow kicked off on May 2 at the ANA Harbour Grand Hotel in Sydney, with Messe Düsseldorf Australia’s Rudy Barth opening proceedings and introduced project director drupa Messe Düsseldorf Manuel Matare who flew 24 hours from Germany to be a keynote speaker at the events. Matare, a native of Düsseldorf, recalled his growing up as the event had its beginnings and gained momentum and gave a historical insight into drupa. He provided the 83 registered attendees with a number of impressive facts and figures of visitor and exhibitor trends since its inception in 1951, where it has grown from 527 exhibitors and 195,185 visitors to 1943 exhibitors and 428,248 visitors in 2000, nearly half of which are international. He also touched upon what challenges have been and are faced in staging such a massive event and what successes and milestones have been reached.

In 1949, the industry decided it was time to do a trade show after World War II. In 1950, they decided to hold it in Düsseldorf and since then we have held 12 drupas and it has definitely grown over those years," says Matare.

According to Matare, 55 per cent of drupa visitors are company decision-makers, highlighting the event’s important standing in the global printing, converting and graphic arts industry.

Fuji Xerox Australia graphic arts industry marketing manager Brett Maishman was next to take the podium, and gave a reflection upon Xerox’s legendary contribution to drupa 2000 where it consumed every square inch of floor space in Hall 18, amounting to a small tradeshow in itself. In 2004, according to Maishman, Xerox will make the move from Hall 18 to form a sizeable extension to Hall 13, a total of 37,674 square feet of display space which is the largest booth solely focused on digital print at the show. Although unable to specify, Maishman confirmed that a number of colour and mono offerings would be launched alongside the recently launched DocuColor 6060 and the iGen3, which should become available in Australia after drupa 2004.

Creo Australia sales and marketing director Steve Dunwell then outlined the global importance of drupa, pointing out that "people come and look at what’s being shown to see how they will move in the future". Dunwell, like Maishman, was unable to elaborate much on Creo’s offerings at the event but hinted that a number of current products with added speed and power benefits would take centre stage.

Cyrachrome Australia marketing manager Andy McCourt put a more personal spin on drupa, saying "many of us in the industry measure our careers by how many drupas we have been to". Alongside his upbeat and humorous presentation, McCourt took time to speculate on what possible offerings may be launched at drupa from the company’s Cyrachrome represents.

Integrafica Print & Pack (IPP) managing director Jonathan Clark presented an overview on the Print City initiative, of which IPP forms a part with 40 companies from 180 countries with a combined turnover of EURO30billion. Representatives of all such companies display together in the Print City hall, providng a full printing workflow solution. Clarke also confirmed that their FujiFilm arm Graphic Systems Australasia will make its first appearance at drupa 2004, and that MAN Roland will once again provide the entertainment venue SS Deutschland.

"Seeing is believing" was KBA Australasia managing director Rhys Burton’s catchcry as he outlined the offerings he expects KBA to display at drupa 2004. He expects that the Rapida 205 will make its first appearance, alongside the 74 Karat DI press, the Cortina and the Genius 52 keyless and waterless press.

StoraEnso’s Phillip Lawrence then took attendees by surprise, announcing that he hoped that they wouldn’t see the company’s latest technologies at drupa 2004, as a sign of how much the company cares for its customers and the environment. Lawrence also expects that StoraEnso will display its various certifications, including its ISO14001 and Dow Jones Sustainability Index certifications, rather than actual products.
Printer Magazines Group associate publisher Brian Moore rounded off proceedings, expounding the virtues for visitors and exhibitors of making the effort to make the journey to drupa 2004, calling it the "pulse of the industry".