Taking place at Messe Lucerne until Thursday (27 February) under the motto ‘Connect’, the 15th outing of the event has attracted 120 exhibitors – 20 more than the previous event in 2023. This included manufacturers of digital printing systems, consumables, and software products.
In a press conference held this morning to mark the show’s opening, Daniel Erni, CEO of Swiss manufacturer and show organiser Hunkeler, attributed the increase to “more sheetfed solutions”.
He said the event’s main purpose was to showcase exhibitors’ technology in action and that “40 practice-oriented solutions” could be found on the show floor.
“We want to show real life solutions,” he stressed.
The event is boasting a different layout to previous years, with catering moved over to a third hall, enabling “more space for roll and sheet production” in the two other halls, according to Erni. He added sheetfed printing and sheet finishing was becoming increasingly important to the event – traditionally a specialist continuous-feed inkjet show.
Around 6,800 visitors are expected over the four-day event, with 6,200 registered already as of today. 68% of visitors are expected to be decision-makers, and the total number of visits (including those visiting more than one day), is expected to reach 15,500.
Hunkeler showcased a raft of its own machinery during a press tour, and highlighted new innovations including the Gen8 Evo roll to stack, which the company said “is characterised by its simple ergonomic and intuitive operation, which makes job changeover and setup more efficient”.
Also new to this show is the Starbook Sheetfolder with pallet feeder, which had its world premiere at Drupa 2024.
Used for processing sheets into high-quality book blocks, this system boasts fully automatic, on-the-fly format adjustments and is said to offer “exceptional flexibility”, enabling rapid order fulfilment “and the efficient production of short runs – even down to a single book”.
The manufacturer said publishing is its dominant segment – making up 46% of its business, with transactional at 24%, direct mail 16%, and commercial 14%.
The 2025 event is the first show since Hunkeler was acquired by Muller Martini in 2023. In a Q&A session during the press conference, Erni said the two companies would remain as separate entities.
Erni also confirmed the dates for the next show; 22 to 25 February 2027.
A full show review will feature as a briefing in the April/May issue of Printweek magazine.
