drupa 2024 concluded successfully after 11 days of intense activity, reaffirming its status as the most important fair for graphic arts and printing technologies. The great anticipation of the 170.000 visitors after the 8-year hiatus was amply rewarded by the 1,600 exhibitors who showcased a rich collection of innovative solutions.
From 28 May to 7 June, the 2024 edition of drupa, the most important international fair for graphic arts and printing technologies, took place at Messe Düsseldorf, where Solema participated with a stand.
High expectations from organizers, exhibitors, and visitors, after the long 8-year wait due to the pandemic.
There was also a lot of interest in the solutions related to robotics, a rapidly expanding sector even in the field of automation.
drupa remains a keystone of the fairs of the sector
drupa2024 reaffirms itself as a keystone in the global printing sector. The event was attended by 1,643 exhibiting companies from 52 countries, attracting 170,000 visitors from 174 countries.
These positive figures demonstrate that our sector has great potential for the future and that the growth prospects are very promising. This is further confirmed by the over 840 billion euros (source: Smithers) generated last year by the global printing and binding industry.
After Europe, Asia was the second most represented region with 22% of exhibitors, followed by America with 12%. Over 50% concerned the printing sector, followed by packaging, a growing sector with an increase in companies producing paperboard processing machines.
Many visits to the Solema stand as well
The number of visitors to the Solema stand was also notable: for 11 days, our stand attracted a lot of attention and curiosity among visitors, eager to discover the latest innovations. This engagement generated many contacts with people genuinely interested in our products with overwhelmingly positive feedback, confirming that our products in the Graphicart and Paperboard sectors are in clear consolidation.
The secret behind the boom in visits comes from the awareness of having a broad portfolio of machines, but never like this year does it start from the choice to invest in a technological exhibition space.
Innovation has always been a hallmark for us, leading to the creation of a contemporary, fully digital stand equipped with two LED walls, one 8 meters and the other 5.5 meters, to virtually present our machines, and 6 screens that, thanks to the new Solema Experience Hub interface, allowed visitors to interact with our solutions, providing an immersive and interactive experience.
The many multicultural events organized at the end of each day also played an important role. These were informative speeches presented by our agents from Poland, France, Germany, North America, Italy, and Croatia, who illustrated the market trends in their respective countries. Each evening saw good participation, generating interesting interactions and exchanges of ideas.
The interest in automation confirms the validity of the new claim
Automation played a leading role at drupa2024, with related developments in artificial intelligence, smart workflows, and software solutions, but there was also a lot of talk about digitalization and sustainability.
Solema was already ahead by presenting itself in Düsseldorf as an automation sector company capable of producing industrial and collaborative anthropomorphic robots for palletizing and depalletizing, confirming its status as a leader in industrial automation for graphic arts and paperboard processing.
Our new company claim, We are automation, presented at drupa2024, sums up in three words the history of Solema, a company that has always designed and produced automation machines with a range of solutions capable of satisfying every customer’s needs.
Robotics: the undisputed protagonist of the future
Solema’s robotics solutions sparked particular curiosity, confirming that – even on an important stage like drupa – this phenomenon is clearly on the rise and will be the undisputed protagonist of the future of our business, both for graphics and paperboard, representing already a rapidly expanding market.
In light of this, Solema has recently invested in a third company division called indeed Robotics, which integrates perfectly with the other two historical divisions. The new division is a fundamental step that expands the already rich portfolio of machines and represents a further commitment to achieving absolute automation in the Graphic Arts and Packaging sectors.
Our sales representatives received many information requests from companies and individuals impressed by the presence of the two Cobots in action at the stand.
Speaking of Cobots, our 693 at the stand of Muller Martini– our partner and world leader in the production of finishing systems for printing – was particularly successful. The robot was positioned at the end of a stitching machine for bookbinding.
The words of Luca Borella, Solema Sales Director
At the end of the event, we gathered some insights from Luca Borella, Sales Director of Solema, who declared the fair a success.
"For us at Solema, drupa2024 was a successful experience that gave us the opportunity to reconnect with long-standing customers and meet potential new ones, who could see from up close the innovations related to our products and witness firsthand the passion and effort we have always put into our work.
drupa provided us with the right energy to look ahead, aiming to offer cutting-edge products and services. From the very first days, we recorded a strong interest in our solutions, especially the new developments in robotics.
We also noticed that interest is increasingly shifting towards the packaging sector. We noticed this trend already in 2016, but to a lesser extent. This confirms our decision to invest in the Paperboard machines.
Meeting individual visitors confirmed that each customer has different needs, and that is why we will continue to adopt a personalized approach to designing our layouts. By designing tailor-made layouts, we can meet each customer’s needs, aiming to optimize spaces and production processes.
We are also happy with the success of our new claim We are automation and the launch of the new service Customer Care – Tools for protecting your investment.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the entire Solema team for the enormous preparation work done for drupa over these years. After the stop in 2020, it was important to present ourselves at our best on such an important stage."
Thank you all and see you at drupa 2028
We want to thank everyone who visited our stand, even if only for a brief visit or just out of curiosity. We will fulfil every single request as quickly as possible.
See you at the 2028 edition of drupa, which will again be held in Düsseldorf.
Finally, we remind you that from 8 to 12 September we will be participating in SuperCorrExpo, the most important American fair for corrugated cardboard, which will be held at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.
We look forward to seeing you there!
For more information on Solema, write to info@solema.it or call us on +39 035 654111.