Biggest exhibitor HP, which occupies the whole of Hall 17 at the venue, Messe Düsseldorf, has been on-site for two weeks already building its 6200sqm stand, the stage for its new press launches, with pre-contruction for other large exhibitors, particularly those with double-story stands, well underway.

Heidelberg will share Hall 1 with partners, and is due to announced a Speedmaster upgrade, as well as the launch of its B1 inkjet press, the Primefire, co-developed with Fujifilm.

KBA is to show a major new revamp of its B2 Rapida 75 press, the Rapida 75 Pro, while Komori is officially launching the 16,500sph B2 litho press series at the show, the Lithrone G29, and Ryobi Mitsubishi Graphic Technology (RMGT) will also unveil its new-look presses.

Konica Minolta in Hall 8b will launch its B2 KM-1 inkjet press, a sheetfed duplex press thatuses UV-cured inks, on its 2,400sqm stand, while in Hall 8a, Xeikon is likely to make a stir with the official launch for Xeikon’s Trillium liquid toner press. Xerox will reveal its brand new Brenva HD and Trivor 2400 inkjet presses and Canon will show its brand new continuous-feed inkjet press, the Océ ColorStream 6000.

UK printhead developer Xaar promises to unveil a brand new printhead platform while Kodak will launch its next-generation inkjet technology platform, Ultrastream. 

Bobst will celebrate its 125th anniversary at Drupa and use the event to show a brand new version of the M6 UV flexo press.

Epson will unveil its brand new 44in (1.1m) addition to the SureColor SC-P series and

The name on everyone’s lips last Drupa, Landa, also plans to make an impact at this Drupa, taking a space twice the size of that in 2012 to build a theatre where Benny Landa will give five presentations a day, showing three presses including two B1 sheetfeds, one of which will be a perfector. Drupa director Sabine Gelderman told PrintWeek.

"What is impressive is to see the massive stand construction," she added. "Also the lighting that is going to be installed and the cooling systems, those are indicators of the heavy machinery going in.

“We have additional cooling for Hall 17 and for Hall 1. HP has more than 50 presses alone.”

Gelderman said that a key trend of this year’s Drupa was 'industry 4.0' or the increase of digitalisation, smart workflows, more automation and 'the internet of things'.

“The upcoming Drupa is to a certain extend a transformation Drupa: the changes that were made in graphic industry. Now a lot of our exhibitors are showing that they can not only print on graphic papers, they can print on ceramics and plastics too," Gelderman said.

“The universe of print is getting so excited; people are really looking into vertical markets. I think we will certainly have overwhelming solutions as well as cutting-edge printed electronics and 3D printing.”

She pointed to the Touchpoint Packaging zone, for example, which features 70 speaking slots, with experts speaking about the themes and technology involved in packaging of the future.

In addition the Drupa Innovation Park, which features 130 start-ups and cutting-edge companies, and Drupa Cube featuring 60 keynote speeches, panel discussions and presentations in Hall 6, would also be worth a visit, she said.

The Drupa organisers have also worked to promote both the city of Düsseldorf and the print industry, through 'Drupa City', forging a series of partnerships with transport, hospitality and accommodation companies, as well as colleges, universities and the local council, and has recruited 150 ‘citizen partners’.

“The 'Touch the Future' slogan gives us a view into the future. Universities are getting involved with contests, working on different design projects," Gelderman added.  

“So many people will be around in the evening, feeling Drupa in the town, showing how big the universe of printing is." 

Finally, Drupa would not be Drupa without the famous, some would say infamous, Drupa song.

Gelderman said that rumours there would be no song for Drupa 2016 had not been a PR stunt but a genuine move from show organisers.

She said: "Honestly, when we started with our Drupa activities for 2016 we were wondering do we really need a Drupa song? Then there was a campaign and even a Facebook group, and we said okay, okay, that’s going to happen.

"Tradition and emotions are important. We could tell that when we had the live performance people got excited.”