Drupa 2008 is upon us. Exhibitors have put the last-minute touches to their stands, visitors are confirming their flights and hotels, and the locals are readying themselves as Düsseldorf turns into a global print metropolis. In its second preview, Printing World provides a round-up of the exhibition’s must-see products.

Pre-press
If Drupa 2000 was the testing ground for pre-press workflows and 2004 marked the next step by linking pre-press to the press, then this year’s show will be about complete integration, from customer to fulfilment. US-based Objective Advantage will launch version 2.0 of Symbio, dubbed a ‘web-to-finish’ workflow. The tool automates both production and ordering and version 2.0 adds functions for booklet making, and status monitoring. Symbio will be demonstrated in a simulated production environment in Duplo’s booth, stand B53, hall 13.

Heidelberg is promoting offset-digital integration with its modular Prinect system. As well as driving Speedmasters, the workflow connects offset to digital presses, showcased at Drupa though collaborations with Xerox, HP and Canon.
Integration is at the heart of EskoArtwork’s vision for Drupa, under the banner Connect More in hall 8b, stand A23. Its Esko Software Suite uses JDF to offer an integrated end-to-end solution. Visitors may also get a taste of how it will integrate recent acquisition Gradual Software and its Switch workflow range.

Managing colour across an interconnected workflow is vital. Kodak is launching an integrated colour control product, ColorFlow, for the entire production environment. The tool, which links into Kodak Prinergy version 5, provides automated communication, control and tracking of complex PDF pages and will run on open standards. Find Kodak in hall 5, stand D01,

Drupa will also be the first major public outing for the merged X-Rite operation. Its new ColorMunki portfolio, which incorporates spectrophotometry, aims to help designers work with correctly calibrated colour palettes. Find X-Rite in hall 5, stand D02 and Pantone in hall 9, stand E04. France’s Alwan Color Expertise is focusing on colour with a new set of ICC tools, enhancing its flagship CMYK Optimizer range, as part of the Drupa Innovation Parc in hall 7.

Digital
News of toner-based kit is coming fast. Canon will build on the success of its ImagePress and large-format ImagePrograf lines with new models at Drupa. The firm claims the ImagePress C6000 is the first colour machine for the light production market to use clear toner. Canon has also grown the ImagePrograf range with the iPF720, which features an 80GB hard drive. Find Canon in hall 8a, stand B46. Canada’s Gandinnovations will use Drupa to launch its Jeti3348 JetStream, a grand-format UV roll-to-roll machine that gets through 300dpi billboard production jobs at 232.2m2 per hour in two-pass mode. Gandinnovations will be in hall 5a, stand 23.

Ricoh, famed for its share of the office market, continues to mount a push into the higher-volume production. The Pro C900 digital press and Pro C900s multifunction device, which hits 90ppm for full-colour work, will be in hall 9, stand A60, as well as having a presence on InfoPrint Solution’s booth in hall 9, stand B44. Kodak will show its expanded flagship Versamark portfolio with the mid-volume range VL2000, which is focused on billing and transpromo applications.

The big news in inkjet comes courtesy of Japan-based Kyocera, which has smashed the speed barrier with the world’s fastest and industry’s widest drop-on-demand printhead. Kyocera claims the 10.8cm-wide KJ4 Series head output full-colour work at a staggering 1,000 A4 sheets per minute in trials on a Miyakoshi MJP600 machine. The launch positions inkjet technology to challenge offset in the speed stakes, although the KJ4’s maximum resolution is only 600dpi. The printhead will be in action at Miyakoshi’s stand C23 in hall 5.

Atlantic Zeiser will unveil its Omega 36 HD and Omega 210 high-resolution units on stand C56, hall 11. The firm claims the kit achieves flexo quality for variable data printing, and can be adapted for mailings, ID cards and label work.

Offset
KBA has its sights set on labels and packaging with a new press, the Rapida 75, which supersedes the Rapida 74 and Performa 74. The 15,000sph machine will sit alongside revamped models of its Rapida 105 and its fast makeready, 18,000sph Rapida 106. The German manufacturer has also worked with MIS firm Hiflex to create a consultancy arm, KBA Complete, to advise the industry on workflow optimisation. Find KBA in hall 16, stand B45.

Mitsubishi, in hall 15, stand C55, will highlight ‘Net Production Net Profits’ with its biggest exhibition showcase yet, including three new models of its Diamond V series.  The trio starts with the Diamond V30000LX, which employs “innovations in air management” to prevent scratches and smudges. It will also launch the 16,200sph Diamond V3000R and Diamond V3000TP.

Dutch firm Drent Goebel, in hall 16, stand C39, will target packaging printers with new curing capabilities. Its Variable Size Offset Printing (VSOP) unit incorporates technology from Energy Sciences to allow for EB curing, while IST Metz has fitted the VSOP with its new BLK-5 lamp for UV curing.

In hall 17, on stand A06, Japan-based Ryobi has announced its first foray into the B1 market with the five-colour, 102cm 1050 press. The 16,000sph machine comes in two configurations ­­– the 1,050x710mm S model and the 1,050x770mm XL version.

Finishing
Swiss manufacturer Bobst is targeting printers that want to take post-press in-house. The finishing powerhouse is focusing on making operators’ lives less taxing with an “evolved” version of its Cube user interface, accessed via a large touch-screen. Bobst also says it has reduced the incidence of “unplanned stops” on its diecutter range with a dynamic register system, Power Register II. Find Bobst in hall 10, stand A04.

Drupa 2008 is a big occasion for Dutch mailing and fulfilment firm Buhrs, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary. Key developments include “significant refinements” to its flagship BB700 envelope inserting line and a 100% speed increase to its Buhrs 4000 paper and polywrapping system. Buhrs will be on stand C46, hall 14.

Germany’s Schneider Senator is set to show a fully automated cutting system in hall 14, stand A70. At the centre of the Senator S-Line137 H system is a patented direct hydraulic drive on both sides of the knife carrier, making for reduced wear and tear on parts and high cutting accuracy. The firm claims the line, which will be demonstrated with the manufacturer’s 4-Load jogger loading, marks the first Drupa outing of a cutting system that “works very nearly without operator intervention”.

Belgium-based manufacturer CP Bourg’s 500m2 booth – stand B69, hall 13 – will host new binding and bookletmaking machines. Its heavy-duty BME bookletmaker comes in two modules, a stitch-fold version and a front-trim unit. Visitors to its stand will also see two new versions of its BB3002 perfect binder.