Koenig & Bauer Takes Positive drupa Summary

From May 28 to June 7, Koenig & Bauer presented its broad product portfolio and numerous digital innovations at drupa 2024, the world’s largest and leading trade fair for printing technology in Düsseldorf.

“After eight years, both the exhibiting companies and the visitors have come to Düsseldorf with a great deal of commitment and enthusiasm,” CEO Dr Andreas Pleßke, who is also chairman of the drupa Committee, said. “You can see how profoundly the entire industry has changed in recent years. Topics such as sustainability and digitalization are key issues that visitors are increasingly demanding to be addressed and solutions found.”

The digital intelligence Kyana came to life before the visitors’ eyes and introduced herself personally to the interested audience as a virtual co-host. The myKyana portal presented itself as the centerpiece of the digital product world and impressively underlined how digitalization can increase the efficiency, productivity and sustainability of companies.

In individual live demonstrations, visitors gained a detailed insight into the advantages of the comprehensive myKyana ecosystem directly on the stand.

“At drupa, we showed how the combination of traditional printing and state-of-the-art AI and data-based technologies is shaping the future of the printing industry. The countless discussions with customers confirmed that digital productivity tools are becoming the decisive factor for investing in our technologies for printing and finishing,” noted Sandra Wagner, VP Digitalisation at Koenig & Bauer.

With a strong order intake, Koenig & Bauer has exceeded its own targets, especially in the sheetfed offset division. The majority of orders have come from China, Spain and Brazil. However, orders were also received from the DACH region, many other countries in Central Europe, Asia and North and South America.

The seven-color Rapida 106 X with coater and extended delivery, which was presented on the stand with printing speeds of up to 22,000 sheets per hour, is the world’s fastest medium-format sheetfed offset press. It was sold to the printing company I.G.B. – Innovative Graphic Boxes in northern Italy during drupa. Once installed in Viggiù, the press will primarily produce pharmaceutical packaging.

The VariJET 106 digital folding carton printing press from the Koenig & Bauer Durst joint venture was presented at a trade fair for the first time and impressed visitors during the product demonstrations with its high print quality and the flexibility of the entire configuration. In particular, the possibility of adding several coating and conventional printing units generated a great deal of enthusiasm among the trade fair visitors.

Koenig & Bauer Durst, together with Highcon, demonstrated the possibilities of a fully digital production workflow from printing to finishing. The joint venture also confirmed two beta customers for the VariJET 106 and the planned installation of a VariJET at a European customer in July.

The great interest and the remarkable sales successes show that Koenig & Bauer has once again lived up to its claim of developing pioneering technologies for the printing industry for over 200 years,” said CFO Dr Stephen Kimmich. Since the end of May 2024, Koenig & Bauer has marketed new orders worth €250 million, including around €200 million in legally binding orders. The order intake relates to all segments.

After eleven days on the Koenig & Bauer stand it is clear to see: drupa is a real trade fair.

“The many exciting technical discussions with customers and experts from the industry make up the very special atmosphere at this trade fair,” says Ralf Sammeck, board member at Koenig & Bauer.