Over three years have gone by since the jubilee and millennium edition of drupa. Even before the closing day dawned, exhibitors and visitors alike confirmed that, in all the fair's half-century history, there had never been a drupa like this. Trade journals worldwide bannered their reports 'The best drupa ever', 'Printing goes digital' or 'The Olympics of the printing industry'. The next staging is not that far ahead, and with the global economy as it is, you'll be wondering what the 13th drupa will have to offer, just what hands-on solutions it will unveil.

　　Spelling out what drupa means for the printing and media sector worldwide would be like preaching to the converted. drupa is to this industry what the Olympic Games are to sport. And will still be next year. This fair underscores on a global scale the innovative strength and consequently the competitive edge of the sectors concerned in contending with new technologies and new media. Drupa 2004 will give everyone whose business is printing and paper - the value chain from prepress to print, to postpress and converting, on the technical or business side, and either as customer or supplier - the chance to share experiences and swap news and views with colleagues from around the globe. And it will also offer a sure guide and sound basis for upcoming investments geared to accessing the multifaceted markets of tomorrow.

　　But bigger is not automatically better. Why should a prospective visitor from your country opt for drupa 2004 in Düsseldorf? There are three excellent reasons:

1. drupa is the only fair for the print and media industry to offer a total overview of the sector's global range. This is because its exhibitor line-up is truly international. World market leaders in the machine-building sphere from Germany, Italy, Asia and the US are a major presence. But drupa has never been or will be a showcase solely for big and famous names. As the mirror of a fast-moving market, it also features newcomers, and companies formed through mergers.
2. The drupa exhibitor structure spurs a more in-depth product sweep than any other sector event worldwide. The show spans the spectrum from global players to small-scale specialists, from affordable standard items to tailor-made tools, from workflow solutions to one-off requirements.
3. As competition gets fiercer, it's innovations that count. Of course, it would be an overstatement to claim that drupa, with its four-year cycle, is the sole platform for new technologies. But it is without doubt the fair that boasts the most. Some of the innovations going on show in May 2004 will still be in the shape of project studies, visions for the near and farther future. But most will have been fully developed, tried and tested. And this is where drupa visitors benefit the most. In this high-tech sector, the times when radical new developments appeared thick and fast are gone. Today, progress is less to do with pioneering new concepts and more with fine-tuning and honing the systems to hand. And with the global economy as it is now, factors such as process optimisation, automation and opening up new business areas are at the forefront.

　　Drupa is the flagship fair for print media, publishing and converting, and has been for over half-a-century. Everyone who knows drupa also knows that the following are not empty clichés but concepts that have embodied drupa since the start:

• drupa sets the course for print finishing and paper converting, package production, paper and printing inks.
• It is the biggest market for good business worldwide.
•  It offers a look into the future, showcasing tomorrow's solutions.

[时间：2004-03-15  作者：Bisenet  来源：Bisenet]