Countdown to Drupa: 41 Indian firms on Drupa 2016 exhibitors’ list

Now, we can confirm that the number of exhibitors have increased to 41. The exhibitors include machine manufactures like Manugraph and TPH, packaging giants like Uflex, die-makers like Diehard Dies, to paper mills like Deevya Shakti Paper Mills, and everyone in between.

Meanwhile, with two months to go, Indian printers are already making plans to visit the biggest graphic art industry show in the world.

Drupa has always been the touchstone of technology advancement for Indian converters, and over the years, print firm owners have made it a ritual to visit Drupa to decide their next big investment. In Drupa 2012, Indian visitors were the maximum from a single country (15,000), second only to the host country, Germany (123,000).

In Drupa 2012, there were total 1,844 exhibitors in a net space of 165,988 sq/m. Total 314,248 visitors attended the show, among which Indian presence was 8%.

This year, there will be a total of 1,650 exhibitors from more than 50 countries. The exhibition will be spread in a 1,50,200 sq/m area, comprising 19 halls. Among them, HP will have an entire hall by itself.

Traditionally, Drupa has been organised in a four-year cycle. This will change from this year onwards. From now on, the event will take place in a three-year cycle. Thus, after 2016, the next three editions of Drupa will be in 2019, 2022 and 2025.

Again, Drupa is a portmanteau word for two German words, Drucken and Papier, meaning, printing and paper. Moving ahead with the current trends, from this year, Drupa will stand for Digitisation, Rapid manufacturing, Utilities, Packaging, and Applications. The repositioned Drupa will now focus on application growth and future technology – functional printing, interactive packaging and utility applications, which include digital inkjet printing on ceramics and laminate flooring.

For more coverage on Drupa 2016, watch this space.

PrintWeek India is a cooperating media partner at the show. The team led by Noel D'cunha, Rushikesh Aravkar and Monica Rohra will be present on all days of the show.