The industry consensus is that drupa – the world's largest and most important trade fair for the printing and media industries – went well. As expected, the far-reaching structural changes in the industry were reflected in lower visitor numbers but, according to organiser Messe Düsseldorf, exhibitors noted that those who did attend had greater decision-making powers.

In addition to being a popular subject in photography, the impressive 175 square metre stand of papermill Scheufelen also proved to be a real visitor magnet. 3D decorative boards displayed keywords reflecting Scheufelen's attributes and highlights. Visitors to the trade fair obtained useful information about paper grades, the company's strategy and much more besides, with an amazing mixture of materials, dynamic typography in the corporate colours black, white and red, and an ingenious lighting concept. With its sophisticated design, Scheufelen's new, informative marketing documentation on image, paper manufacture, individual paper grades and print samples also went down very well with visitors.

Despite the overall decline in visitor numbers, Scheufelen received a comparable number to drupa 2008. These consisted primarily of top managers from a wide range of countries. It rated the discussions held at its stand as being of a very high quality. This has already been reflected in firm orders from existing and new customers. However, it will only be possible to estimate the true extent of the follow-up business in a few weeks' time.

Scheufelen illustrated the customer benefits resulting from its new “High Speed” strategy – rapid availability, excellent flexibility and professional sales and service. The company continues to focus its sales strategy on customers located within a relatively narrow radius of the production facility. 24-hour delivery ex works is possible in the local area. Scheufelen paper is stored at the company's ultramodern logistics centre for sheeted and reel goods, thereby ensuring a high daily dispatch volume. This strategy ensures high flexibility and optimum availability of Scheufelen's entire product portfolio. Existing and potential customers can benefit from the Scheufelen team's comprehensive specialist knowledge relating to the production, printing and finishing of the various paper grades. Consultants can also visit companies in person if required.

Scheufelen also recognizes the major opportunities that digital printing offers paper manufacturers. For example, its art paper and premium paper are used with both liquid toner systems such as HP-Indigo and all popular dry toner systems such as Xerox, Kodak-Nexpress, Konica-Minolta and Ricoh. Initial certifications have already been obtained.

In-depth discussions with customers reaffirmed the company made the right decision in adding 350 and 400 g/m² card grammages to its range of art paper. With the surfaces and grammages now available, creative professionals can benefit from bvs quality across the full production spectrum – from contents to cover. 

“We also used drupa to analyse market developments through discussions with representatives of the entire value-added chain. Offset papers will in future also need to be suitable for digital printing – in combination with inkjet, for example. Due to the increasing digitisation of communication processes, sophisticated print products are also taking on greater importance. Scheufelen offers high-quality coated paper grades in the form of heaven 42 and phoenixmotion that are ideal for these very applications. We are keeping an eye on the various trends and will adapt our new, innovative products accordingly. drupa has provided important impetus for Scheufelen, too,” said the company's Director Sales and Marketing Horst Lamparter, giving his final impressions of the 2012 event.