drupa Postponed Until April 2021
drupa, the world’s leading trade fair for printing tech- nologies, has been postponed until April 20-30, 2021, due to the exponential spread of the coronavirus. Di- rector of drupa and Global Head Print Technologies of Messe Düsseldorf, Sabine Geldermann, provided an- swers concerning the print industry. How did you determine the new date? “Under normal circumstances” the year 2020 would have been a “trade fair rally” for Messe Düsseldorf, be- cause from August last year until this June almost all of Düsseldorf’s major world-leading trade fairs should have taken place — with drupa as the finale. Due to the influence of the coronavirus and the associated of- ficial decrees or restrictions, seven trade fairs planned for this spring have already been postponed to the sec- ond half of 2020 and to spring 2021. Since we need a time frame of around two months for drupa (due to its set-up, duration and dismantling), there were only limited options available. Having weighed up all the parameters and in view of the international trade fair calendar, the date chosen is the earliest and best possible date, which we have agreed together with our President and the VDMA as the supporting association. Under the current circum- stances, this date now allows the greatest possible planning security for all parties involved. Fortunately, we are now once again in a similar timeframe to the original, traditional May date of drupa. How has the global printing community responded to your announcement? The current situation is affecting all industries world- wide in an unprecedented way and the effects of the coronavirus are already having a drastic impact on public and economic life. As in other industries, the printing industry is feel- ing the effects of this in the form of short-time work, production downtime and supply bottlenecks — on a national and global level. In this situation, however, the health and protection of employees and partners takes precedence. The reaction of our international customers and partners to the postponement was therefore consis- tently positive and met with great understanding and acceptance.Three months before the regularly sched- uled start of drupa, we were thus able to give many exhibitors the opportunity at this point in time to re- schedule their upcoming logistical and very cost-in- tensive measures, such as the shipment of machines. (Cont’d on Page 8)
4 March 30, 2020 Flexo Market News
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