"Nothing beats experiencing the latest technologies up close in action with the public and the trade fair feeling,” said German press manufacturer Koenig & Bauer, confirming its presence at next year’s global printing trade expo drupa following the surprise exit of competitor Heidelberg. “Although digital formats are gaining in importance, they are only a supplement in customer communication.” K&B CEO Claus Bolza-Schünemann is also the president of drupa.
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| Visitors and machines in action at drupa 2016 |
“Koenig & Bauer reaffirms its commitment to participate in the world's largest trade fair for the printing industry, which has been postponed until April 2021,” the company said in a statement. “The company is well positioned and the stand in Hall 16 will be retained.”
Since drupa was founded in 1951, the company has maintained an uninterrupted presence and welcomed customers from all over the world, even in times of crisis, it said.
"We continue to see drupa, the world's leading trade fair, as an important building block in the graphic arts industry and we see it as our responsibility to support this industry,” said Claus Bolza-Schünemann, Koenig & Bauer CEO and drupa president. “We want to do our part to continue to provide important impulses locally in personal discussions. We have confidence in Messe Düsseldorf's hygiene concept and in the sense of responsibility of all visitors.”
Ralf Sammeck, Koenig & Bauer board member, said: "Trade fairs will not be the same as they were before COVID-19, and Koenig & Bauer is also supplementing communication with its customers with virtual formats and customer-specific events, for example in our new Customer Experience Center. Nevertheless, these formats can only convey the performance capabilities of the broad product portfolio to a limited extent. Nothing beats experiencing the latest technologies up close in action with the public and the trade fair feeling."
K&B board member Christoph Müller added: “For Koenig & Bauer there is no more suitable platform to present the product diversity from digital, offset and flexo printing to intelligent digitalization and service solutions to an international audience."
In March, the drupa trade fair scheduled for 16-26 June 2020 was postponed to 20-30 April 2021, following a recommendation by the German Federal Government.
