Landa’s legacy

I’m writing this after experiencing my first ever day at a Drupa show, the first of many I’m sure.

What an experience it was too. I’ve become accustomed to tradeshows in Germany; whether materials or construction machinery focused, they are always, without fail, humongous. However, Drupa 2012 is by far and away the largest I’ve ever been to.

I only managed to get inside a couple of halls, as the first day was jammed with press conferences, but as the first was hall 1, the “Heidelberg Hall”, I’m awestruck at the size and scale of the global printing industry present in Dusseldorf. Perhaps those of you who have been to previous Drupas down the years will remember others more fondly, but let me tell you that as a first-timer I was very impressed.

Perhaps those of you who have been here before will also remember previous years when Benny Landa was hailed as the star of the show. Again, as a first-timer, I’m very impressed with the buzz he has created around the nanographic digital printing process in 2012.

News of deals with Heidelberg, manroland sheetfed and Komori have already made the headlines, but the process was mentioned in every conversation I was involved with on the opening day, showing just how much of a buzz has been created by his launch.

Maybe the buzz will die back after a few days, not only as the show moves on into week two but also as I was part of more than one conversation on the opening day that ended with cautious praise towards the technology, its place in the market and how it will develop in the near-future.

On the other hand, I also heard people welcome it with open arms and glowing praise, so perhaps 2012 will be remembered as another Benny Landa year, when his nanographic digital printing process further evolved the market and when his legacy in the printing industry as an innovator was assured.