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10 Aug 2016

Time will expose drupa’s stunning success

Production Printing Services

Don’t be fooled: feeble claims of show day triumph are craven bluster

 

There are some quite fantastic numbers flying around press releases, news portals, and other outlets following drupa 2016. Believe the numbers and drupa was a blinding financial success. But how blind are we really?

How much of that is regional operating companies helping their parent organisations justify the enormous expense of being at drupa, the towering stands, the acres of demonstrations, displays teeming with personnel who all flew, eat, sleep, and drink – at a price?

The truth is that nobody buys a production printer, workflow software, finishing equipment, or much anything else to do with graphic arts, commercial printing, and high volume at the drop of a hat. Deals take weeks, months, even years to complete. It’s the nature of the big investment. People’s heads will roll if they spend a few million rands that turn into a white elephant choking up valuable real estate and idle operators. Business owners will cease to be business owners if they’re frivolous. Due diligence, or any other name, must be done to make sure you buy the right thing. These machines aren’t chocolate bars or a choice of: chicken sosaties or lamb chops for the braai this weekend where we may say: “Oh well, I’ll get the other one next time.”

OK, word around the drupa campfire was that one US printer arrived at the stand of an iconic brand and, literally on the stand, decided to buy a multi-million rand machine. But that’s one deal. The rest were undoubtedly arranged months beforehand.

But my point is this: if the regional operating companies of global brands were helping justify the expense of being at drupa 2016 they need not worry. It was a success. The industry is electrified after drupa 2016. Or, more accurately, digitalised. drupa 2012 was supposed to be the digital drupa, and it was to a certain extent, but vendor aspirations divulged at drupa 2012 were demonstrated at drupa 2016.

You could see it everywhere. Everywhere I walked and saw more demonstrations, more equipment, more people talking, I saw the incredulous faces of the audience lit up by the possibilities of what they could be doing within a few weeks, for the quick, and months, for the cautious. drupa 2016 was the drupa that delivered on the promise, it made the realm of fantasy not just possible but tangible. Months from now, when our duly cautious and diligent customers have completed their investigations, listened more to all of us vendors in deeper exploratory discussions, they will sign on the dotted line. And that’s when our company overlords will know that drupa 2016 was good.

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