Keypoint Intelligence: Key Takeaways from drupa 2024

Partnerships, innovations, sustainability, AI, and more!

By Jean Lloyd & German Sacristan

FuturePrint is very pleased to share our new partner Keypoint Intelligence's roundup of DRUPA 2024. Keypoint Intelligence, experts in market intelligence and data for the digital imaging industry, provides a comprehensive analysis of the latest innovations and trends from this year's show. 

German Sacristan, Principal Analyst of On Demand Printing & Publishing

Strong alliances were a highlight of this year’s drupa. Heidelberg announced its collaboration with Canon to sell inkjet cut-sheet printers (i.e., varioPRINT iX3200 and the newly unveiled varioPRESS iV7 B2 press). Similarly, HP partnered with Canva, Landa with Gelato, and Ricoh with Scodix (revealed before drupa). These collaborations are crucial for growth. For instance, Heidelberg can leverage its offset market presence to help Canon reach customers that might not have previously considered Canon’s inkjet printers. Likewise, HP and Landa can tap into the expansive communities of print enablers and drivers like Canva and Gelato.

Acquisitions made even before drupa also played a significant role. Kyocera’s purchase of NIXKA in April 2023 allows it to expand into industrial and photo applications, demonstrating the effectiveness of acquisitions in fuelling growth and innovation.

 Heidelberg’s stand featuring the Canon
varioPRINT iX3200 heralds a new partnership.

Technological Advancements

One of the most significant announcements was for Canon’s varioPRESS iV7 B2 press. It stands out not only for its speed—8,700 B2 full-color impressions per hour—but also for its modularity. The press feeds long edge first at 29.5", indicating a potential future upgrade to a B1 press. The print module tower design also suggests the possibility of additional colors beyond CMYK, offering remarkable flexibility and scalability.

Innovative Approaches

Fujifilm introduced an interesting approach with its new Jet Press 1160CF. Starting with a tower/module that removes moisture from the paper before printing, the company addresses several key challenges: ensuring consistent print color quality between duplexing engines, maintaining speed in high-quality modes and on heavier media, as well as reducing wrinkling around solids when printed with text.

 Fujifilm Jet Press 1160CF 

Focus on Software AI and Sustainability

Ricoh aggressively promoted the Pro Z75 and Pro VC80000, both utilizing the same printheads and inks. Under the banner “See the Potential in the Future of Print”, Konica Minolta demonstrated its new AccurioJet 60000. There was also focus on a software offering that provides print output quality guidance and recommendations based on demographic consumer profiles, such as country, gender, and age.

Komori showcased its new J-Throne 29 B2 digital press and emphasized how AI enhances the productivity and uptime of its offset presses by making automatic adjustments on the fly based on job-to-job experience. The company also highlighted sustainability by transparently displaying the electrical consumption of its offset presses per job on the control panels.

It was also encouraging to hear from HP about how the company assists its PSP customers with their sustainability efforts by enabling the creation and tracking of factory environmental assessments.

Jean Lloyd, Principal Analyst of Labels & Packaging

drupa 2024 was a showcase of cutting-edge technology and visionary approaches in the print and packaging industry. The event featured an array of leading companies that brought unique solutions and insights to the forefront.

Bobst: A Visionary Approach

Bobst left a lasting impression with its unique approach at the press event. Opting for a booth without any equipment, the company showcased a retrofit model to convey its industry vision of shaping the future of packaging while emphasizing its commitment to sustainability. The entire stand was focused on solutions to alleviate industry pain points, promoting seamless end-to-end workflows, and reinforcing a message of practicing what it preaches in sustainability.

Canon

Canon’s “Power to Move” theme stood out as the most compelling example of effective storytelling among the large exhibitors. This theme encapsulated Canon’s vision for the future of the print industry, reflecting its commitment to empowering print service providers to adapt, grow, and succeed in a dynamic, ever-evolving market. Canon’s new Label press, the LabelStream LS2000, attracted significant interest from attendees.

EFI

EFI’s booth featured its popular Nazomi 14000 AQ press and aqueous inks, focusing on the theme of no compromise with digital solutions. Additionally, the new Packsize EFI X5 Nazomi, designed for the booming e-commerce application market, was a hot topic at the show. This system is fed by a fan fold and cuts, decorates, and delivers an erected box in 6-7 seconds—providing the right sized packaging for efficient delivery.

Fujifilm

Fujifilm’s stand attracted significant attention, especially for its Jet Press FP790 Flexible Packaging press. The stand was extremely busy most days, with Fujifilm securing five deals within the first few days of the event. Additionally, Fujifilm Business Innovation and Konica Minolta announced plans for a strategic alliance involving production printing devices, multifunction printers, and office printers, with Fujifilm leading the charge.

Keypoint’s Jean Lloyd at
the Fujifilm stand

HP

HP dedicated an entire hall to showcasing its solutions. The booth featured separate areas for commercial print, publishing, labels, flexible packaging, folding cartons, and corrugated packaging. Each station displayed vibrant printed samples, demonstrating the capabilities and possibilities of HP’s technologies in a visually impressive manner.

On the commercial side, the Indigo 120K and 18K digital presses showed productivity improvements from previous versions, such as jamming reduction and auto recovery and alert that reduces operator intervention, which combine to increase uptime to be able to compete with inkjet.

Koenig & Bauer/Durst

The Koenig & Bauer/Durst stand impressed many with its modern design and well-displayed digital solutions. Digital integration was clearly a key focus, with the company highlighting growth areas in post-press, digital printing, corrugated printing, and flexible packaging. Durst’s collaboration with Omer introduced an ultimate hybrid concept that unites analogue and digital technologies, revolutionizing the labels and flexible packaging markets.

Landa

Landa’s opening press event was a standout moment, with Benny Landa captivating the audience with an overview of Nanography technology. Landa’s partnership with Gelato and ESP Colour promises to redefine the print and packaging landscape—enhancing efficiency, quality, and profitability for print customers through advanced technology and software. The new Landa cut-sheet presses run at a very similar speed (11,200 B1 full color impressions per hour) to offset presses, bringing great productivity to digital inkjet.

Screen

Screen’s booth featured the Truepress PAC 830F, a flexible paper packaging press that garnered much interest. The focus on labels and flexible packaging solutions highlighted Screen’s dedication to innovation in the industry. On the commercial side, Screen showcased the new Truepress JET 560HDX, which does not require pretreated papers or primers. 

Keypoint Intelligence Opinion

These highlights from drupa 2024 showcase the diverse and innovative approaches taken by leading companies in the commercial print as well as labels and packaging industries. Each exhibitor brought solutions and visions to the table, contributing to an exciting and forward-looking trade show experience. As expected, all solutions from vendors linked to the print buyers’ purchasing criteria of quality, productivity, cost, and sustainability.

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