中文drupa 2028 is building a notably international exhibitor base well ahead of the doors opening in Düsseldorf. Companies from 38 countries have already committed to the event, scheduled for 9 to 17 May 2028, with major suppliers including HEIDELBERG, Fujifilm, Esko, Horizon, Konica Minolta and Windmöller & Hölscher among those registered. The breadth of participation spans the full print and packaging value chain, signalling that the industry’s flagship gathering retains its gravitational pull even with more than a year to go. Exhibitor registration remains open through 31 October 2026.
Sabine Geldermann, Director drupa at Messe Düsseldorf, framed the early booking momentum as a strong market signal. “The current booking figures, particularly the high level of international participation, send a strong signal from the market,” she said, pointing to the willingness of suppliers to commit floor space and marketing budgets more than eighteen months in advance. That forward commitment is itself a confidence indicator: exhibitors do not lock in premier stands for a 2028 show unless they believe customers will travel and invest.
The 2028 edition is explicit about where it is steering the conversation. Organisers say the event will expand its emphasis on integrated production workflows, automation, robotics, artificial intelligence and sustainable manufacturing, connecting hardware, software and data into coherent production environments rather than isolated machines. That theme reflects a structural shift in how printers and converters buy: the differentiator is increasingly the connected system, not the standalone press, and drupa’s programming is being built to mirror that reality.
A redesigned event experience organised around four clusters, grow, create, learn and play, will bring technology suppliers, printers, converters, brand owners and creative professionals into closer proximity. The intent is to make the show more navigable and more purposeful, pairing interactive demonstrations with knowledge-sharing sessions and dedicated space for start-ups and emerging talent. Additional programme detail and new event formats are expected in early 2027, giving the market time to plan attendance and exhibiting strategy around a clearer map.
The decision to foreground AI and robotics is not cosmetic. Across commercial and packaging print, labour scarcity and the demand for shorter, more customised runs are pushing investment toward systems that need less manual intervention and deliver more predictable output. drupa has historically been where suppliers unveil their flagship launches, and the 2028 agenda suggests those launches will be judged as much on their data and automation credentials as on raw speed or quality. For visitors, the four-cluster structure should make it easier to trace a line from a business problem to a demonstratable solution.
For the wider industry, an early and geographically diverse commitment of exhibitors is reassuring after the disruption of the past several years. Shows live or die on the quality of the buyers they attract, and buyers follow the exhibitors who matter to them. With leading names already on the floor plan and registration still open, drupa 2028 is positioned to reaffirm Düsseldorf’s status as the global reference point for print and packaging technology, and to set the narrative for the investment cycle that will define the back half of the decade.
Source: INKISH.NEWS (inkish.news)
The early commitment also reflects how the trade-show calendar itself has become strategic. After the disruptions of recent years, suppliers are keen to lock in premium positions at the events that still reliably convene global buying centres, and drupa remains the one show where capital-equipment decisions for the printing and packaging sector are shaped. For Messe Düsseldorf, a diverse exhibitor base this far out de-risks the 2028 edition and signals continuity in a market that funds innovation in cycles. The explicit turn toward AI, robotics and sustainable manufacturing also tells suppliers what they will be expected to demonstrate: not isolated machines, but connected, labour-light, lower-carbon production systems. Visitors planning capital expenditure for the late-decade window will treat the four-cluster format as a buying map, and exhibitors that fail to show a credible automation or sustainability story risk being overshadowed by those that do. In that sense, the booking momentum is less about a single show and more about where the industry’s investment narrative is heading.
The redesigned four-cluster format is more than cosmetic relabelling. By organising the show around grow, create, learn and play, Messe Düsseldorf is trying to convert a vast, sometimes overwhelming floor into a navigable journey that connects a business problem to a demonstrable solution, and to give start-ups and emerging talent a visible platform rather than burying them in a corner. That matters because the industry’s innovation pipeline increasingly arrives from smaller, software-led entrants whose presence signals where the next wave of automation and AI tooling will come from. For suppliers, an early, well-placed commitment buys a year of planning certainty and a stronger hand in shaping the programme around their launches. For visitors, the clarity should make the 2028 edition easier to navigate and more directly useful, reinforcing drupa’s role not just as a showcase but as the coordinating event for a global investment cycle that is already underway.
