Sometimes, trade shows don’t even have to open before they start making news. Earlier today, officials of Messe Düsseldorf, producer of the drupa expo, held conference calls with journalists to explain the drupa committee’s decision to shorten the interval between the events from four years to three starting in 2016. According to the drupa officials, the change—one they say they have been advocating for the last 14 years—enjoys the support of 90% to 95% of the drupa exhibitors to whom it has been presented. The three-year time frame is intended to help drupa do a better job of keeping up with the ever-accelerating “innovation cycle” that is ushering new technologies into the print- and paper-based graphics industry.

Werner Matthias Dornscheidt, President & CEO of Messe Düsseldorf, made the point that innovation cycles continue to compress, and the range of “printed” products continues to grow. In addition to the shorter cycle time between drupas, the trade fair will have an increased focus on functional and 3D printing as well as printed electronics. While many may not consider this as “printing,” and may fear that it will take away from the original focus of the show, Dornscheidt was quick to point out that many of the existing exhibitors at drupa already have initiatives in place aimed at taking advantage of these market opportunities.

It also appears that the timing of this change has a lot to do with the fact that drupa (previously on a 4-year cycle) and InterPack (on a 3-year cycle) would nearly coincide in 2020 if the previous schedule were maintained, placing a hardship on exhibitors that wish to exhibit in both shows.

In response to a question about whether this move was designed to “snuff out” nationally-oriented trade shows, the answer was a resounding no. According to Dornscheidt, their research reflected that only one show, China Print, is close to the drupa schedule.

Ultimately, according to Dornscheidt, exhibitors who either responded to a drupa survey or were part of the drupa committee, “have definitely decided to take the risk [of switching to a 3-year cycle] and expect to garner much more business as a result.”

With respect to the increased focus on 3D, functional and electronics printing, Sabine Geldermann, Director of drupa, added, “This opens up the universe of printing/inkjet technology, in which a lot of exhibitor companies are investing. Before, these companies exhibited only at drupa and are now exhibiting in packaging, glass, plastics, and other industries. We believed we needed to increase the nomenclature of the exhibition to address all of these topics and the innovation that is occurring, including enlarging the range of substrates that can be included in the printing process, and our committee fully agreed to this new positioning of drupa.”

Well, let’s get through 2016 and hope that the economy stays robust and can support this 3-year cycle. We’ll be there again in 2019 and we’ll see!