This is certainly true of finishing – in fact, finishing may well be the sector that most embodies the move towards a digital future. While digital presses have had a place in the industry for well over a decade, for many years, finishing departments had to adapt to the new world order, using equipment designed to handle longer runs. That is no longer the case.

Intelligent Finishing Systems managing director Bryan Godwyn says: "The incredible growth of digital will no doubt be well represented at Drupa. Short-run, automated set-up and instant makeready with no wastage and quick turnaround is what everyone is searching for."

Even Heidelberg, which has yet to move into the exclusively digital finishing area itself, preferring to co-operate with fellow manufacturers, believes it’s worth keeping tabs on. Post-press product executive Ian Trengrouse says: "We are watching the digital finishing arena and expect to see Heidelberg strong in that sector in the future. 

"Automation is still a major factor in new investments. Enhancing productivity will also be a feature for us, minimising downtime once the machinery is set up."

While it is clear that digital finishing will be a big part of the show, what the major innovations will be is less clear. According to Godwyn, simply getting jobs from print to post-press will be key.

He explains: "Transferring digitally printed stock into finishing lines has been a challenge in the past, but now it seems the solutions are there and I’m sure there will be developments here to make sure it is even more efficient."

For Watkiss Automation communications director Jo Watkiss, efficiency is the key area that the sector will be looking at, due to the troubles the industry has gone through in the past four years.

"We all know what the economy is like," she says. "If you think back to the last Drupa, we were on the cusp of a decline. Since then, there has been a reluctance to invest.

"What we have seen since is printers searching for more efficient machinery. Often they invest in order to make savings, margins are smaller and every penny they can save in the process is a big deal."

Watkiss agrees with Godwyn’s assessment that the finishing sector will be moving forward in the digital arena and believes this is where the most innovation will be seen, with solutions launched in order to meet the increasing speed of digital machines, along with the ever-improving quality of personalised colour printing.

While many in the sector believe that digital finishing equipment will continue to focus on shorter runs, Kolbus UK managing director Robert Flather believes that the increasing speed of digital presses will actually lead development in a different direction.

He says: "Digital presses are getting faster. There is still the desire for differing run lengths, but the speed at which the paper is coming out of a digital press is increasing, so we are going to be seeing more industrial finishing equipment that is still aimed at the digital sector.

"When digital first emerged, it was almost office-style equipment, rather than more heavyweight machines that can makeready almost instantaneously. But that is what printers want now."

Evolution, not revolution
Increasingly, manufacturers no longer wait for the next trade show to launch new products, so there is a sense that Drupa will be a show of evolution rather than revolution (with a few notable exceptions, such as Benny Landa’s intriguing new nano printing technology). However, Flather also believes that there could be a few surprises in Düsseldorf.

"A lot of what will be on show at Drupa is predictable, but dotted about will be one or two new concepts that people won’t be expecting," he says. "I think digital and inkjet is still the area most people will be interested in over there, but behind that, finishing is definitely one of the key areas."

However, Friedheim chief executive Peter Morris disagrees. "Apart from things going a bit quicker with, perhaps, shorter makereadies, I do not believe that there will be many true innovations," he says.

Despite this, Morris believes that most of the UK printers heading to Drupa are likely to be looking at post-press kit. "Finishing is now the one area where companies can really make profit and reduce costs. Everyone who can go, should absolutely go and make a plan and visit all the main finishing booths. Then they might just notice how out of date they really are."

Regardless of whether the show is filled with innovation or not, the main question manufacturers will ask themselves is whether or not printers will go to Düsseldorf prepared to spend.

Attracting investment
The good news for post-press manufacturer is that their sector is likely to attract the most investment. This is based on its relatively low outlay.

However, Duplo UK managing director Tony Lock warns that the show is not one where UK printers have traditionally spent a great deal of money.

"Normally, Drupa is a futures show, whereas Ipex is a buying show in the UK. Having said that, I know a number of printers who will be buying at Drupa," he says.

While Drupa 2012 may not come to be dubbed ‘the finishing Drupa’, there is every likelihood that UK printers heading to Düsseldorf will come back with a raft of ideas about how to add value and drive efficiency in areas of their business that go beyond the pressroom.

READER REACTION

Craig Moran
Sales and marketing manager,
Bobst UK
"The big areas for us, our customers and our customers’ customers are productivity, innovation and sustainability. Anything that reduces set-up times, increases up-time, automates processes, cuts down on waste or improves product quality is of interest. Finishing is a key focus area. Finishing has the potential to add great value, which printers can sell to their customers. On top of all that, finshing also has the benefit of enabling brands to differentiate themselves and gain a competitive advantage."

Alan Padbury
Managing director,
Westdale Press
"I don’t have preconceived ideas on what I want to do, but finishing is on the agenda, albeit in a fairly minor way. I would like to have a look at lasering and personalisation, not necessarily for mailing, but because we are sometimes asked to personalise products even when we’re not doing the main mailing work. We will be looking hard at stitching lines too, but I am happy with a basic tool for this kind of work. I am going out to Drupa twice: once to wander and enjoy and second to nail a deal on anything that takes my fancy."

Quen Baum
Managing director,
Morgana
"Undoubtedly Drupa is still a tremendous platform at which to make major product introductions, but developments come thick and fast so it is certainly not the only time to make significant announcements. UK printers at Drupa are generally in pretty short supply. Those that are there will spend on digital finishing we believe. Our main focus, however, is on our international dealer network and their customers. We also see Drupa as the ideal platform to meet with potential new dealers for territories that we don’t  yet cover."

You can read Print Research International director John Charnock's comment here