Drupa, Europe’s biggest printing trade show has just begun and will be running for the next 7 days ((Messe Düsseldorf, 31st May – 10th June). Each of the 15 halls are bustling with lights, machines, video screens, demos and people taking in the sights, sounds and bratwurst. It’s a lot to take in.This blog post will look at the key trends and technologies from this years show.
Three key trends emerged for me over the past two days. Nanography digital printing, Web to Print and Print on Demand were everywhere. All 3 are the cornerstones of the emerging digital printing industry.
Smithers Pira are predicting over 200% growth in digital printing by 2024. With this in mind, all of the Printing machine manufacturers had one clear message at Drupa, ‘we will help your business to grow’. No longer are commercial printers just buying equipment, today they are investing in business enhancing tools that will ensure relevance and competitive advantage. Printers need to respond to the changing needs of their customers. For example, customers may want small jobs done quickly without high cost but with high levels of Personalisation. You want 1,000 branded envelopes by tomorrow. Or 50 by 200 paged company reports, printed, bound, and personalised.
Outer packaging was also a focus for many manufacturers. Plain White corrugated boxes will be a thing of the past. Full digitally printed boxes are now being treated like primary packaging featuring full graphics (branding, imagery etc), product information and track & trace elements, 2 codes etc.
Domino Printing
A key highlight is the Domino Printing stand, if you are attending speak to Luuk Van Barron (A23 in Hall 5) Domino are evolving and innovating in the digital print arena. They are showcasing a sheet fed digital printer that is capable of printing variable data across the full width of the Web with high speed. They are also showcasing a full digital book/document printer with an integrated binding module. This solution is ideal for the printing of documents, reports, books, exam papers etc. for short runs at high speed and with no or little change over time between jobs.
The full colour N610i label press won an award at this year’s show (for the best digital label printer of 2016) and is gaining huge recognition across the industry due to its speed, reliability and low cost of inks. The N610i is ideal for printing labels with textures to give products a luxurious feel (wine bottles, perfumes etc). Domino are no longer just variable data printing manufacturers they are pioneering the movement of full digital printing.
Partnerships
Partnerships are a hot topic in the print world at the moment. Not just with SMEs but with the larger companies too. Domino are big on partnering to achieve best in class solution:
- The Domino K630i producing multi-page booklets on an integrated system in partnership with Kern AG and IBIS Bindery Systems, producing up to 7000 booklets per hour at speeds of up to 150 metres/min.
- In conjunction with Gremser, Domino demonstrate a B2 digital printing sheet-fed solution with the newly launched 782mm print width K600i printer operating up to 120m/min printing on sheets from 60g/m² to 250g/m²
- Standalone 7-colour N610i digital label press printing on white, clear and silver media printing a variety of labels including our latest ‘Textures by Domino’ print solution.
OEM Exhibits:
- Ferag AG – Hall 15/Stand D25
EasySert processing and inserting line using Domino Bitjet 4.5+ for personalised mailings. - W H Leary Co. Inc – Hall 6/Stand D62
Domino A320i integrated onto Leary Gluing/QA system printing unique serial numbers on folding cartons. - SMAG Graphique on AVT stand – Hall 9/Stand C60
The Domino K600i integrated onto SMAG’s Digital Galaxie to produce personalised 2D codes on hot foiling controlled by AVT’s system
See our highlights video from the Domino Printing Stand at Drupa 2016.
