Special shows drupa cube, dna – drupa next age, touchpoint packaging, touchpoint 3D fab+print and touchpoint textile
With more than 1,650 exhibitors from 50 countries already signed up – counting 30% new exhibitors – drupa underlines its unique position as the most important platform for the global printing industry. Europe is making a strong showing among the exhibiting nations, the top 5 being Germany, Japan, Italy, China and Great Britain.
Key trends at drupa
Megatrends that will be center stage at drupa are illustrated with special shows, the drupa “Hot Spots”: drupa cube, dna – drupa next age, touchpoint packaging, touchpoint 3D fab+print and touchpoint textile. They provide a unique setting for transferring knowledge and sharing experiences that reflects the competence and creativity of the industry. Beyond these special forums, innumerable exhibitors will also be displaying new solutions in these segments at their stands.
Major conference area to headline Wall Street best-selling author Michael Gale
The major conference area in hall 6, drupa cube, focuses on innovation in the print universe and the wide range of application options for printed products across all industries and spheres of life. Following the tagline “educate – engage – entertain” events address technologies like printed electronics, creative multichannel applications and the use of digital printing in conventional segments, such as packaging and vertical markets.
Speakers hail from the exhibitor side but also represent brand owners from vertical markets, showing how intersectional thinking can result in innovation. Our innovation partner Michael Gale, a Wall Street best-selling author as well as international consultant, will guarantee support in thought leadership, providing insights that matter to customers: How to recreate processes in business, how to identify skills to update pre-set notions, how to re-design your business.
As the speed of change is ever increasing, small businesses as well as multi-nationals have to be pro-active while sticking to a clear vision. drupa cube will assist in such development with the help of conference sessions that cover a wide range of formats – such as key notes, CEO Level sessions, executive think tanks and brand stories.
Innovation and cross-cutting technology lies at the heart of dna – drupa next age. dna will encourage a productive exchange between key players, start-ups and innovative SMEs. Embedded in a new hall concept, this special area builds on the start-up section that drupa innovation park represented in the past. dna will give innovators the chance to present ideas for new products, services and new approaches in relevant interdisciplinary technologies – either as best practices or business cases.
The next special show to list is touchpoint packaging whereconcepts and the latest knowledge about new packaging production, finishing technologies and substrates will be presented. At touchpoint packaging, everything revolves around the question: what is the perfect packaging. Perfect packaging surprises, inspires, awakens desires. Combining this aspiration for packaging with the demands of future consumers and brand owners, touchpoint packaging translates overarching topics into concrete projects – culminating in prototypes that will be premiered at drupa. The projects cover aspects like customisation in a multicultural world, security and authenticity features, automated supply chains or reusability of packaging materials.
The tremendous potential of additive manufacturing as a cross-cutting technology will be another leading topic at drupa 2020.The touchpoint 3D fab+print forum expands on what exhibitors are showing and covers the industry’s entire range and includes presentations on state-of-the-art technologies. For the first time, the VDMA Additive Manufacturing Association will be responsible for content design and implementation of the lecture programme.
VDMA Project Manager Dr. Irene Hassinger states: “we want to introduce visitors to additive technologies and their advantages for manufacturing machine components, spare parts or tooling, and give them realistic assessments of the current and future possibilities of additive processes.“
Last but not least, there is another new special show, touchpoint textile, dedicated to the potential of digital textile printing as a source of growth and momentum in new fields of business. touchpoint textile brings together companies in different industries, giving them a creative space for inter-industry collaboration, new projects and novel product and manufacturing ideas, which can be implemented in a micro factory.
Looking forward to 16 – 26 June 2020
Sabine Geldermann, Director of drupa and Global Head of Print Technologies at Messe Düsseldorf, is convinced that the trade fair will once again demonstrate the dynamism and innovative capabilities of the entire printing industry: “drupa stands for cutting-edge technologies and solutions that reach target groups in a wide range of markets. It has become very apparent in recent years that the appeal of print products is growing as the technology steadily advances.”
