Bruno Müller: Costs will decrease at a large scale, whereas the complexity will increase at shorter runs
When drupa is over, it is time to start the preparations for the upcoming show! On our blog industry experts share their insights from the 2016 edition and expectations of drupa 2020. We get started with Müller Martini’s CEO Bruno Müller.
Image source cover photo: Messe Düsseldorf / ctillmann
We all know: When drupa is over, it is time to start the preparations for the upcoming show! Before drupa is going to open its doors again in 2020, we asked experts to share their insights from the 2016 edition and to look at the future of the printing industry. We get started with Müller Martini’s CEO Bruno Müller. Here we go!
Statements from Müller Martini’s CEO Bruno Müller
Mr Müller, in how far did drupa 2016 provided impetus for you?
At drupa we tried to demonstrate potential future application fields with a practical orientation taking our Finishing 4.0 philosophy and nine production lines as examples. Now we see that our customers are actually adapting to these business models. This shows us that we are heading towards the right direction. Our industrial solutions for individualized and variable print products have already made variable data printing production a reality. Thanks to the possibilities digital offers the systems are able to prepare for new products automatically, without starting the production manually. This requires a continuous production process, a high automation level, and a precise mechanical engineering. It is key to match these demands in order to enable a touchless workflow.
Which developments will affect the printing industry and which trends do you expect to evolve until drupa 2020?
The benefits of Finishing 4.0 solutions are not limited to digital or hybrid systems. Traditional business models for the traditional processing are affected by increasing cost pressure. Hence the goal is to reduce costs when it comes to a large scale. Systems that run fully automatically and minimize the operator intervention during or in between productions are required as well. When it comes to workflows the same demands that apply in the digital area have to be met: Make-ready time have to be low, the production should be finished without manual interventions. Simultaneously there are more and more short runs that increase the complexity. Additionally, I see high potential for minimal print runs with variable content and individual design. The customization of print products will steadily increase – this is an approach we are going to take in the future, too. These business models are going to develop further over the next years and I am sure that we will see much more ideas evolving until then.
What do you think? Which innovations do you expect to see at drupa 2020?
