As well as being the exclusive UK reseller for Horizon and Tecnau, the Hemel Hempstead-based business is the UK supplier for kit from Foliant, BaumannPerfecta, Petratto, SCS Automaberg and Italdibipack.

According to managing director Eric Keane, this years’ show will be a must attend event.

“It’s the first Drupa in eight years, and in technology terms that’s a lifetime,” he said.

“Just look at the technology advances in that timeframe, particularly in digital print and finishing, then think of how important automation and integrated workflows have become.”

He highlighted the Horizon and Tecnau booths in particular as being must sees for business interested in integrated workflows.

“They’re all about finishing from start to finish, you could say.”

The rise of robotics and automation generally will be among the key themes for Horizon (6-F21-3), which is taking more than 450 pieces of equipment to Drupa, where it will run scheduled tours.

It will launch the 500cph single-clamp Horizon BQ-300 fully automated binder alongside the new Horizon HSF-50D sheet feeder that can be configured with the iCE StitchLiner Mark V saddlestitcher. The Mark V will be demonstrated being fed by a unwind unit and Hunkeler sheeter.

The 4,700cph Horizon SPF-2000 bookletmaker will also receive its show debut.

Delivering on the robot theme, Horizon’s stand will be running a complete book production line using the robotic arms and the manufacturer’s kit running alongside technology from Ricoh and Hunkeler. Its booth will also host, for litho production, a B1 folder delivering to a MiniCabs gatherer using an AGV robot.

And on Canon’s stand, a robot arm will be used to place book blocks into Tecnau’s BookReady and feeding these into the Horizon BQ-300.

Meanwhile, Tecnau’s theme will be ‘Tomorrow’s Finishing, Today’ – the centrepiece of which will be the Revolution 50 AutoSetup series, which IFS describes as “a groundbreaking solution for automated roll to cut and stack applications that maximises uptime and reduces labour cost”.

Also on stand 8a-B41 will be the new 200m/min Revolution 50 StreamFolder series, designed for short-run book applications. It offers on-the-fly and automated format change and semi-automated imposition change.

Tecnau Connect - the Italian manufacturer’s Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) will be another stand highlight, as will be various performance boosts across much of its kit portfolio.

And Tecnau-owned Sitma will unveil the e-Wrap automated mailer system that produces up to 900 pack-to-size paper mailers per hour.

Other IFS highlights

• Baumannperfecta (15- E20) The fully automatic “Independent Line” cutting system for commercial printing and a high-speed cutter BP 92 with CutTronic Plus for small formats and digital printing
• Foliant (6- F32) The Pollux and Foliant Castor NG laminators. The successors to the flagship Pollux & Castor solutions feature more efficient design and GUIs
• Petratto (11-D41 and 6-F42) The new Metro Startup 78 folder gluer with incorporated feeder and delivery, the DeStach B1 automatic stripping machine, and Petratto’s digital die cutting programme ECLIPSE, which now supports laser die-cutting

With so many launches and upgrades on show on its partner stands, IFS’s appointment book, according to Keane, reads like a who’s who of the UK print industry with the firm already close to hitting its target of 80+ appointments, half of which have been incomings.

“We’ve very much got the feeling that this year visitors will be highly organised, focused and planning their visit to make sure they maximise their time.

The supplier will have seven staff in attendance throughout the 11-day show.

“The enthusiasm around the show has been the highest I have ever seen,” said Keane, who attended his first Drupa in 1982.

Drupa 2024 runs at Messe Düsseldorf from 28 May to 7 June.