Impressive 45,000 unique online visitors gathered at virtual.drupa 2021
With 212 exhibitors from 35 countries presenting product portfolios and innovations within online showrooms and through more than 125 live web sessions with an average of 140 participants, virtual.drupa 2021 provided vital stimuli for tapping into new potential in the printing industry.
Three days of virtual.drupa 2021, held from April 20-23, alongside the comprehensive conference programme with an additional 130 presentations in the context of five special forums, focused on key issues as well as global mega-trends and their impact on the industry.
The first day of the event was opened by drupa President Claus Bolza-Schünemann’s welcome address subsequently with keynote address from Michael Gale, Wallstreet Journal cestselling author and innovation partner. Afterwards, presentations, best cases and talks by top speakers, partners, associations and exhibitors provided impulses on the topics of artificial intelligence (AI) and circular economy as well as the latest innovations on the market.
A total of around 600,000 page views and 45,000 unique users underlined the success of virtual.drupa 2021. International visitors from 155 countries made up more than 82 percent of the total number, highlighting the fact that the virtual event has been able to provide access to potential customers on all continents and having been adopted as a digital platform for international knowledge transfer and networking opportunities.
The success of the virtual show also documented by the participation of major global players as exhibitors and event partners including DuPont, EFI, ESKO, FUJIFILM, HP, Kyocera, Xeikon and many more. Sabine Geldermann, Project Director, Print Technologies, said,” We are pleased that the interaction within the community has started so positively. The impressive range of valuable knowledge transfer in the Conference Area and the Exhibition Space, as well as the exchange with business partners via matchmaking in the Networking Plaza, are being excellently received.”
Amongst the new launches and exhibits, EFI unveiled new 3.2 m wide, an entry-level EFI Pro 30h printer, aimed at commercial print shops, sign shops and in-plant print departments which are looking to start, upgrade or add board and roll-to-roll print jobs to their wide format capabilities. EFI Pro 30h system is a hybrid flatbed/roll-fed entry-level production printer that gives users broader application capability, versatility and profit potential in wide format work.
Swiss digital cutting systems manufacturer Zünd at the show also opened the way for enhanced automation in the print room with new interfaces for its modular cutters designed to optimise efficiency. The new tech was unveiled at a web presentation hosted by Lars Bendixen, Zünd Segment Manager- Graphics and Aleksandar Lazic, Zund Segment Manager- Packaging. The discussion focused on intelligent automation for print and cut workflows and included the role metadata gathered from ERP and MIS systems plays in the production process, plus a new robotic automation interface.
Visitors from other time zones who were unable to follow the presentations live would get the opportunity to access the sessions 24×7 on demand via the Video Library and then network with exhibitors for a personal exchange via Matchmaking in the Networking Plaza. Ahead of the drupa 2024 (May 29 – June 7, 2024), Messe Düsseldorf and its trade shows in Asia will offer a wide range of touchpoints enabling the industry to stay in touch.