Did drupa 2008 Pay Off for You?

Qi Bai traveled to drupa from the Olympic city of Beijing. The 38-year-old is the Managing Director of the commercial print shop QL Art, specializing in books, illustrated volumes and high-quality print products. His aim was to find out about the latest machines, but above all about the latest workflow technologies.
What was of most interest to you?
"I was curious to find out about the latest Prinect updates and functions. We have been using Prinect for four years now, specifically Printready, Prepress Interface, MetaDimension, the Integration System and the Pressroom Manager."

And were you successful?
"Yes, Remote Access and the Prinect Scheduler should fit extremely well into our workflow. This means we would be able to avoid supply chain bottlenecks and further increase customer satisfaction."

R. Karpagam spent nearly three weeks as an exhibitor at drupa. For the 23-year-old software specialist from Chennai, India, it was his first time there.
Why were you at drupa?
"drupa is unique. Nowhere else gives you such an insight into the developments and trends in the print media industry."

What in particular caught your attention?
"Automation and how JDF has become standard in the print media industry, for example at Heidelberg. It is certainly impressive to see how integration with Prinect has simplified printing."

Was drupa a success in your opinion?
"Yes, in every sense. The trade fair is a great place for making lots of contacts. It was exciting to exchange information and ideas with customers and business colleagues from around the world. That's only possible at drupa."

It was Karl Kowalcyzk's tenth drupa altogether and his fifth time representing Heidelberg. The Director of Print Media Center in Heidelberg and Wiesloch is responsible for Heidelberg's product demonstrations, from prepress to postpress, as well as print production from Heidelberg. At drupa, Kowalczyk headed a team of around 130 staff and was in charge of all live print jobs and demonstrations at the trade fair.
What was special for you about this drupa?
"It was definitely the biggest trade fair I have ever been involved in. That was mainly due to the number and variety of exhibits and the convincing presentation of Prinect, our workflow solution. Furthermore, we printed more jobs directly at the fair and introduced more machines than ever before at drupa."

How much did you print live?
"Just for the finishing process, 3.9 million sheets were produced in advance. Together with the pretests and live demos at the fair, we used almost 1,000 tons of paper and cardboard. In addition, we used about 25 tons of ink and coating, and approximately 18,000 printing plates. That's significantly more than at drupa 2004, but our presses have also become more productive. Today, a Speedmaster XL 105 produces around 18,000 sheets per hour and a Diana 115 can do about 200,000 folding boxes in the same time."

What interested visitors most?
"Our visitors asked most often for the Adidas collection folder by Missy Elliot, which we produced live on a Speedmaster XL 75: first cold foil, then printed in four colors, and finally followed by a spot coating with iriodin or gloss. For the lenticular cards with marketing campaign motifs, we used morphing, distortion and 3D effects."

How would you sum up the trade fair for yourself?
"It was the most work-intensive drupa to date. Thanks to the very experienced Print Media Center team, the planning and execution went smoothly. It was the best and most impressive trade fair that I have ever worked on."