Drupa 2012 will be remembered for many things by many people, but for one of the industry’s leading lights, it will be remembered as the swansong of 52 years in print.

The man in question is Andrew Tribute: industry expert, commentator, technologist, consultant and, well, king of the non-disclosure agreement.

Tribute says he has seen "drastic" changes in the industry since his first visit to Drupa, when letterpress was still a common sight in the Messe.

However, it is print’s most recent revolution – analogue to digital – that Tribute thinks will have the biggest impact on the sector. Not that he believes, even for a second, analogue is dead and buried.

He predicts, though, that inkjet will be the dominant technology of tomorrow. "Come next Drupa, inkjet quality will be comparable to offset technology. Inkjet is a driving force in the industry, yet printers are only now realising the power of it," he says.

True to form, this is something Tribute predicted a decade ago when he said he coined the phrase "Go digital or die."

It looks like his last Drupa might be the tipping point, certainly in terms of some of the prototypes on display.

"You are getting more futuristic products – lots of machines you won’t be able to buy for another two years. Businesses are using Drupa as a preview to get people locked into what they are thinking,"  Tribute observes.

While he remains focused on the technologies of tomorrow, he is just as passionate about his view that print will never die – although, as a serial blogger himself, he is acutely aware of the threat posed by the migration of communication and information from print to online.

"The industry is now controlled by the computer," he says, yet he firmly believes the positives of this far outweigh the negatives.

"It just means we are more efficient and get things done faster and better."

Equally, Tribute says the most successful print companies have moved beyond just putting ink or toner onto paper.

"Many printers are running as ‘multi-channel communication’ companies now, working with the customer right up the channel; in packaging, for example, from brand ownership to the supermarket shelf.

"You have to be prepared to kill your existing business before somebody else does – to know where the window of opportunity is going to move, and to be ready when it opens," he says.

However, he believes the future growth areas will be in packaging and industrial print.

"Inkjet technology has lots of potential in these areas. They are both getting better and better in terms of quality, and these markets are ones that will drive print forward. It is worth owning some intellectual property within the industrial space, at least."

On the subject of how the industry and Drupa will manage without Tribute’s own "intellectual property", he swears he won’t be back, as "there is too much golf and sailing to do".

But then he hints that maybe – just maybe – an all-expenses-paid trip to Düsseldorf in 2016 might just tempt him out of retirement for a few days.

But, as Tribute officially bids his "final" farewell to Drupa, how would he describe his career?

Much like the man himself, his answer is short and to the point: "Bloody lucky."

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