Schreier says, “At this year’s drupa, we will record orders amounting to over EUR800m, comfortably ahead of our expectations. This forms a strong base to reach an order intake of more than EUR1bn in the first quarter of fiscal year 2004/2005”.

Schreier says the positive nature of discussions during the trade show fuel his confidence in an improving industry outlook for the coming months. After three weak years, he expects the Print Media Industry to rebound noticeably.

The largest single exhibitor at the trade show, Heidelberg presented itself on 7800sqm across two halls to more than 370,000 international visitors. Out of these visitors, over 40,000 customers and interested persons witnessed 350 presentations in five Heidelberg solution demonstration centres and the Heidelberg-Forum.

Schreier says, “Our focused customer approach and over 50 innovations shown triggered our success at drupa 2004. The new Heidelberg appeared tangible to our visitors through the applications shown.”

The company says its concentration on business solutions along the entire sheetfed offset value chain, the company’s core business, from prepress to finishing to workflow issues, was welcomed by customers. Roughly 90 per cent of the orders placed were for sheetfed offset and finishing products. As expected, most of the orders came from Europe, but a number of American and Asian customers invested well also .

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