To see everything being shown at drupa requires a disruption of the time-space continuum. There are something on the order of 1900 vendors showing their wares here at drupa over the 14 days the show runs. That means you would have to see 136 of them each day, and spend a bit over 4 minutes at each stand. And that assumes you can instantaneously transport yourself from one place to another, such as from the new buildings of 8a and 8b to the remote reaches of building 15 instead of making the trek across the complex, dodging trucks, shuttle buses and weaving through the herds of attendees.

Fortunately, no one has to see all of drupa and visiting a relative handful of companies will satisfy your needs. But what to see? It's truly a case of so much to do, so little time, even if you actually dedicated two full weeks of your life to the event. What is important is an individual matter, so the trick is spending time in the right places.

What this digital drupa clearly demonstrates is that digital printing is here to stay --and growing. It is not a curiosity or a pretender to the throne of offset. It is a powerful, effective and above all profitable way to put words and pictures on a page and is perfectly compatible with offset printing. It is proven to be an ideal way for printers to extend what they do and generate new business for both offset and digital presses. That makes this drupa a place to think about what all the elements of digital printing mean for your business, especially if you have both offset and digital technology. I've seen a lot here over the past week and there are two areas of products and technologies to see that can help a print business be more agile, more responsive to customer needs and more competitive.

First, look at lots of print engines, both those that fit the way your business works today and ones that can help transform it into what you'd like it to be tomorrow. There are no longer any significant quality concerns with digital printing. While not all digital presses produce "offset quality" images (a truly arbitrary term), they all produce sellable images that satisfy customer needs, which is what's important at the end of the day. As you examine them, look beyond image quality and even speed to overall productivity and finishing capabilities. Most of the new systems shown here at drupa can increase the volume of work you produce each day, raising your topline even as greater efficiency increases the bottom line.

Also helping the bottom line, especially for printers with both offset and digital operations, are many ways to better integrate your workflows so that jobs can easily be switched between offset and digital devices. Nearly all the makers of both types of presses have rolled out new software that enables jobs to be routed all but seamlessly between types of machines. Check this stuff out: Some it has a real "Wow factor." Many printers I've been talking with do this already, but all have areas where they need greater efficiency and are looking for answers. Many of the solutions printers need today are here in the stands of offset and digital vendors alike.

So for most printers at Planet drupa, there are not 1900 vendors but maybe a couple dozen --easily seen in just a few days. And by spending a generous amount of time at each one it is easy to see how the products and technologies being rolled out here can help change their businesses.

Good shopping!

Noel Ward
Managing Editor, WhatTheyThink.com
Director, Brimstone Hill Associates