The event, which is taking place this week (16-20 May), was attended by around 1,500 printers from around the world, including a number of high-profile UK companies.

At the summit Manroland said that its Direct Drive unit was now capable of running at 18,000 sheets per hour, while launching Inlineinspector 2.0, an update to its inline inspection system.

Ink manufacturer Sun Chemical also launched a new quick-drying ink at the event in Offenbach, Germany.

The Inline inspector enables printers to ensure that every sheet sent out of the factory is perfect by comparing it to the initial PDF. As well as picking out any typographical errors, it picks up on scuffs and other marks.

According to Manroland commercial sales manager Adam Robotham, the machine can be used alongside a tab inserter, which notifies the user of any imperfect sheets.

He said: "If you are doing pharmaceutical work you can't have any mistakes – we are hearing that some places are turning entire deliveries away if they find one mistake. The improved inspection system means a printer can be completely confident that every sheet that goes out the door will be perfect."

Sun Chemical's new ink, SunLit Titan, dries completely in around two minutes. According to sheetfed systems product manager Bernhard Fritz, it is aimed at short-run work that requires a second pass.

He said: "If you are doing a run of 500,000 sheets the ink probably won't be of use. But if you are doing just 1,500, you will be immediately putting the sheets back through, inks can still be clammy and can stick to the machine as it passes through, but Titan will not have this problem, it is ready to go immediately."

The ink is available now in small amounts, but will be available at full production in the next couple of months.

Also at the event Manroland showed a host of machinery, including its Roland 900 XXL wide-format perfector, Roland 700 HiPrint, Roland 500, Roland 200 and a Roland 50.

A number of auxiliary products were shown on these machines, including InlineFoiler Prindor, high-pile delivery and an envelope feeder.