Heidelberg Drops Out of drupa 2021

Heidelberg will not exhibit at drupa 2021. Long a key exhibitor at the international trade show, with its equipment filling two halls, the German press manufacturer announced this week that it will not take part in any international trade fairs next year.

In 2021, the company said in a press release, drupa will be a very different event; global travel restrictions and hygiene regulations mean significantly fewer visitors and constraints on communication. Traditional international trade fairs with busy booths and halls will very be difficult to implement, the company maintains.

This follows the May announcement that Xerox and Bobst would not participate in drupa 2021. According to PrintWeek, HP has also scaled back its presence at the show. Meanwhile, Koenig & Bauer just confirmed it still intends to participate in drupa, which will take place in April 2021.

In its press release, Heidelberg noted that the trend towards ever shorter innovation cycles in the print media industry has accelerated, and customers thus need to be informed about the latest trends quickly and on an ongoing basis. As a result, the company will focus on offering more new, digital options to present products and innovations.

Heidelberg will kick off this concept at “Innovation Week” Oct. 19-23, during which it will present product innovations that focus on packaging and commercial, including autonomous printing, end-to-end solutions, Smart Print Shop and Push-to-Stop. The Innovation Week will take place via livestream as well as face-to-face at its Wiesloch/Walldorf site.

“We will be investing more in new, virtual trade fair concepts to ensure closer and more individual customer communications as well as in regional events in our growth markets,” says Rainer Hundsdörfer, CEO of Heidelberg. “The Innovation Week will now enable us to communicate with our customers as soon as possible and to present our innovation offensive.”

Face-to-face dialogue will continue to be the focus at Heidelberg’s Print Media Centers in Wiesloch/Walldorf, Atlanta, Shanghai, Sao Paulo and Tokyo, Hundsdörfer adds, where the company can engage with customers’ specific needs directly on-site.