Business News

drupa Continues 4-Year Cycle – Length Shortened to 11 Days New Date: 31 May to 10 June 2016

Monday 05. November 2012 - Claus Bolza-Schünemann New drupa Chairman

drupa is to maintain its Olympic 4-year cycle. This decision was taken by the 20-member drupa committee at its constitutive session held on 2 November 2012. A key factor in this decision was the international trade fair calendar that is built around the four-yearly cycle of drupa as the world’s most important trade fair for the print and media industry. “Many innovative exhibitors and their successful customers would very much like a more frequent event. However, the supplier industry plans its entire trade fair marketing activities within a global concept. Dependable planning is of the utmost importance here in view of the current economic climate and the situation in international sales markets,” explains Kai Büntemeyer, Chairman of the Printing and Paper Technology Association (Fachverband Druck- und Papiertechnik) within the VDMA (German Engineering Federation) and President of Global Print. Founded in 2008, the international association Global Print promotes the global exchange of information on developments in the print and paper industries. In addition to those from Germany, Global Print includes print and paper associations from the USA, China, Japan, India, France, Great Britain, Italy, Spain and Switzerland, who together make up nearly a quarter of the world market for printed products.
At the same time, the drupa committee decided to shorten the length of the fair to eleven days – i.e. from 31 May to 10 June 2016. “Visitor structure at drupa has changed. While in the past large groups travelled to the fair – preferably at the weekend – drupa is now increasingly developing into a B2B fair with a high proportion of top decision-makers,” said Werner Matthias Dornscheidt, CEO at Messe Düsseldorf, explaining the decision. “At this year’s drupa 78% of the international visitors and 52% of German visitors came from top management; respectively this is 4 and 5 percentage points more than in 2008. This makes running over two weekends unnecessary. With eleven days – i.e. one weekend and nine working days – we perfectly cater to the needs of both supply and demand.”
The second major item on the agenda of the constitutive session concerned personnel. The body unanimously appointed Dipl.-Ing. Claus Bolza-Schünemann, CEO of Koenig & Bauer AG, as the Chairman of drupa 2016. As in 1995, 2000, 2004 and 2008 Koenig & Bauer will once again be providing drupa’s Chairman in the form of Claus Bolza-Schünemann, now aged 56. “I am delighted to assume the Presidency at such an exciting time. Our sector is developing at a rapid pace and drupa 2016 will represent a key milestone on the path into the future,” explained Claus Bolza-Schünemann.
Dr. Jürgen Vutz, CEO at Windmöller & Hölscher KG was confirmed as Vice Chairman and thus Chairman of the Admissions Committee and Rolf Schwarz, President of the German Printing and Media Industries Federation (Bundesverband Druck und Medien e.V.) was confirmed as the Second Vice Chairman of drupa 2016.
The drupa committee represents the entire technology spectrum – from pre-media and print through to further processing, packaging production and paper processing. Users are also represented here by media service providers – as are the five most important sectoral associations:
¬ Printing and Paper Technology Association (Fachverband Druck- und Papiertechnik) within the VDMA (German Engineering Federation), Frankfurt
Internet: http://www.vdma.org
¬ German Printing and Media Industries Federation (Bundesverband Druck und Medien – bvdm), Wiesbaden
Internet: http://www.bvdm-online.de
¬ Paper-Processing Trade Associations (Wirtschaftsverbände Papierverarbeitung – WPV), Darmstadt
Internet: http://www.vvk.org
¬ German Pulp and Paper Association (Verband Deutscher Papierfabriken – VDP), Bonn
Internet: http//www.vdp-online.de
¬ German Printing Ink Industry Association (Verband der Druckfarbenindustrie – VdD) within the Association of the Mineral Pigments Industry (Verband der Mineralfarbenindustrie e.V.), Frankfurt
Internet: http//www.vdmi.de