The print finishing specialist Leonhard Kurz is very pleased with the large stream of visitors to its booth at the Drupa trade fair. Kurz recorded an exceptional visitor count, and an immense interest in its finishing technologies. Digital Metal, a newly developed decoration process from Kurz that can be used to apply a metallic gloss finish to digital print products in any lot size from one upwards, attracted particular attention. There was also a great deal of interest in the technology of hot stamping - the most attractive form of finishing, as demonstrated by Kurz at its booth - with the release of the brand new allrounder Luxor/Alufin MTS stamping foil, along with a novel range of holographic lens designs with a spectacular depth effect. Visitors were able to inform themselves in detail about the new possibilities offered by cold foil transfer, and the newly developed Luxor/Alufin KPS-OP, a universal application cold foil for UV printing. Many visitors also wanted to find out more about the brand protection, brand decoration and brand communication solutions on display, in particular the Internet-based Secutrace identification system, and diffractive 2D barcodes. Further topics of interest were the future markets for functional printing, and the Kurz technologies that are providing access to them, as well as how to achieve sustainable print finishing across the entire manufacturing chain.  

Key visual with special message
Visitors were particularly fascinated by the key visual of the trade fair booth: a picture of a luxuriously bejeweled young woman. The aim of this image was to illustrate just how effective print finishing can be as a method of adornment, and to demonstrate how elegant concealment can emphasize beauty. This message clearly hit the mark, as evidenced by the visitor's delight in this key visual poster, which was hot stamped live at the trade fair booth. Some areas of the jewelry shown in the poster have been produced by means of an artistic embossing technique, which creates a unique tactility that can only be achieved by means of hot stamping. Hardly anyone left the Kurz booth without securing their very own copy of the poster. The visitor numbers from Europe and the USA were high, as has traditionally been the case. Kurz was also pleased to welcome an exceptionally high number of visitors from China, India and South America. 

"Our success at the trade fair demonstrates that we have understood the challenges that our customers face," explains Markus Hoffmann, a member of the Kurz board of management. "Today's print finishers are faced with the difficult tasks of reacting flexibly to market requirements, exploiting opportunities for savings, and capturing new market segments, while also giving due consideration to the environment. We presented solutions to all of these challenges at Drupa 2012. We were also particularly keen to underscore the unique value of print products. We wanted to demonstrate how print finishing can enable these products to successfully compete with online media. Our key visual poster, with its refined tactile and visual effects, illustrates perfectly that there is no substitute for print products." For further information on the themes presented by Kurz at the trade fair, visit www.kurz-drupa.com.