If there were ever any doubts about the future of print, they were quickly dispelled at a recent New Zealand presentation event for next year’s drupa international trade fair, due to be staged in the German city of Dusseldorf between May 31st and June 10th.
 

At Auckland’s Hilton Hotel, before a selected group of print industry professionals, Werner Dornscheidt, president and CEO of Messe Dusseldorf, and Dr Markus Heering, general manager of VDMA (Germany’s Printing and Paper Technology Association), outlined what visitors can expect to see at drupa 2016, and it’s interesting to learn the diversity of output that is now represented by the word ‘print’. Much of that diversity hinges on the word ‘digitalisation’ – the move from analogue to digital technology, fuelled by the Internet since the start of the 21st century.
 

Both Dornscheidt and Heering highlighted the innovative trends that will be reflected at the 2016 trade show – such as 3D printing; a market currently worth around US$2.2 billion a year and growing by 25 percent annually. 
 

Functional and industrial printing is also well represented at drupa 2016 – an even bigger market with US$100 billion potential.
 

There will be an increased focus on the latest solutions and applications around intelligent packaging production, as well as multi-channel publishing and green printing.
 

The drupa Innovation Park will provide an overview of the latest publishing solutions and their implementation in modern marketing communication. The Innovation Park is divided into six themes: multichannel publishing and marketing solutions; web-to-media and e-commerce; process optimisation and automation; added value in print; innovation in printing technologies; and business models.
 

Another special feature of the fair is the drupa Cube – a forum or hub for creatives and print buyers to gather together and share knowledge and information.