drupa, the world's leading trade fair for print and cross-media solutions, will switch to a three-year cycle after 2016, when it runs from 31 May to 10 June. This decision was taken by the drupa committee at today's meeting in Düsseldorf.
"The entire print process chain has changed radically because of the Internet and digital technologies. New applications and solutions are developing and opening up new fields of business. At the same time, there is more focus on innovative technologies, such as 3D printing, printed electronics and functional printing," explains Claus Bolza-Schünemann, Chairman of the drupa Advisory Board and President Koenig & Bauer Group. "It's more important than ever before that our customers have an overview of the latest technology and are also inspired to use new business models and solutions. drupa is the only specialist trade fair in the world to offer this– and will do so every three years in the future."
One positive side-effect of this change is that drupa will no longer run in 2020, the same year as interpack, the world's most important trade fair for the packaging industry and the closely related process industry. "The drupa exhibitors who specialise in packaging printing would have found 2020 an incredibly stressful year so the change will clearly benefit customers," emphasises Werner Matthias Dornscheidt, President & CEO Messe Düsseldorf.
The precise dates haven't yet been finalised, but it's clear that drupa will take place in the traditional drupa month of May in 2019, 2022 and 2025 in Düsseldorf.
