Xerox Corp.

Is it the beginning of a marked decline in demand for sheetfed offset and digital toner?

The following is a sampling of just some of the new products that were featured at drupa 2016.

I’d already been briefed on a lot of drupa 2016 news before I left home so I wasn’t really expecting much to surprise me. I was wrong.

Well, I've put another "drupa notch" on my belt, and it was quite an experience. The weather in Düsseldorf was good, and the crowds were there. For those who have never been, the sheer size of the show, and the enormous investment by the hundreds of firms exhibiting are truly mind-boggling. Deals were done, and many were for multiple high-priced systems, putting lots of smiles on vendor salespeople and management.

B Squared, in New York City, was the brainchild of Tim Boucher and a partner, two opportunists who wanted to be in business for themselves while helping to bridge the gap between designers, printers and customers. The shop opened mere months after 9/11, at a time when certain business in the metro area, including printing, nearly came to a complete halt. But Boucher was fearless and determined to make his mark after years of selling print and reselling Xerox equipment.

Lots of companies are looking for new applications, new revenue streams, and new ways to differentiate themselves. Romax Marketing out of London, believes that it is on to one. I recently interviewed Wes Dowding, operations and technology director, about where Romax stands, and where it is going.

Journalists from all over the world gathered at the drupa 2016 site to hear more than a dozen vendors announce what they plan to show.

Held once every four years, drupa has historically been a bellwether of product development cycles.

Sussex, Wisconsin-based Color Ink began as a commercial printer more than three decades ago, but after seeing local companies turning to outside graphic design firms to develop their packaging, Color Ink decided it was time to enter the packaging market. The company has made a big splash, not only producing packaging, but producing the products to be packaged.

One room remains available for the Printing Industries Alliance drupa Experience! A Private Turn-Key VIP Tour.