Compared with über-sophisticated, formidably sized bits of printing kit, consumables and ancillaries may not be the most exciting products on show at Drupa. But manufacturers of these products seem determined not to be upstaged by their mechanical counterparts this year. Or at least not without a fight.

One company hoping to divert at least some attention from spectacles of shiny, whirring presses is blanket manufacturer Trelleborg. The company is planning an ‘Institute of Contemporary Print’ art gallery featuring modern takes on classic artworks produced by students from Germany and the Netherlands, with pieces "reverse auctioned" as visitors give their lowest bids to win artwork.

Meanwhile, Kodak is adding a stylish twist to the café area of its stand with 32 tabletops made from imaged plates, and is hoping to wow visitors with a three-dimensional plate wall at its stand in Hall 5.

But such eye-catching visuals aren’t being conceived simply as fun ‘rest-bites’ from pounding the halls or as diverting talking points for visitors. Hopefully, says Trelleborg’s printing blankets managing director Thomas Linkenheil, the displays will create a lasting impression of the company and its products.

"We want Drupa 2012 to raise Trelleborg’s profile to ensure printers connect us with the Vulcan and Rollin blankets," he explains. "We want them to know Trelleborg has a €3bn (￡2.5bn)turn-over and is making big investments in print."

Ideal platform

An element of showmanship should create the ideal platform, explains Linkenheil, for the company to showcase the versatility of its printing blankets on any substrate and to generate excitement around the unveiling of four new products: the Vulcan Synthesis Evo sleeve for the heatset sector, the Rollin MyCoat strippable coating blanket for the packaging sector and a mylar-based coating blanket.

Similarly, Kodak’s plate wall, featuring full-size Trillian SP, Electra XD, Sonora XP, Sonora News, Acehive EM and Thermal News Gold plates, is designed with education as well as entertainment in mind.

"The wall will be placed between a Kodak Magnus 800 Platesetter, which will be running the new Sonora XP Process Free Plates, the new Kodak Intelligent PrePress Manager 2.0 and the new Achieve All-in-One computer-to-plate system," explains Kodak director of marketing communications, Pam Patterson.

She explains that, in conjunction with an adjacent Kodak "Sustainability Wall" featuring posters detailing the environmental credentials of Kodak products, the plate wall will highlight the environmental progress made by Kodak plates over the years. "The plate wall will focus on the decrease in chemistry used for different plates," she explains.

So not only are consumables manufacturers planning to steal some of the limelight from hardware this year, they are also determined to hold their own when it comes to sustainability.

President of Allied Pressroom Chemistry Rick Sures says consumables will be very much part of the overall increased environmental focus of Drupa 2012.

"I think at Drupa we will see more emphasis on the ecological impact of chemicals, in particular an emphasis on the reduction of potentially harmful chemicals in the environment, be they liquids into groundwater supplies, or volatile organic compounds into the atmosphere," he says.

"This obviously encompasses the health effects of chemical products on the people employed in the industry; these adverse effects must be minimal and under constant scrutiny."

To demonstrate its commitment to these health issues, Allied Pressroom Chemistry will showcase a range of alcohol-free fount solutions, fount solutions approved for use on food packaging, roller cleaners and plate cleaners, wash with low or no solvent content and biodegradable degreasers.

Fujifilm Graphic Systems’ offset solutions product manager Sean Lane agrees that demand is increasing for products that help to reduce printers’ environmental footprint.

"I believe the trend we will see at Drupa in the consumables sector will be a focus on how current technologies have evolved and have been enhanced to give improved environmental characteristics," he says.

"The majority of manufacturers are concerned with building on their environmental credentials and part of this effort involves reducing their carbon footprint, both with existing products and with any new technologies that are being brought to market, such as Fujifilm’s new Brillia HD LH-PXE plate and systems such as Fujifilm’s XR-1200F waste developer reduction system."

Substrate manufacturers will also no doubt be keen to promote their eco-friendly credentials at this year’s show.

UPM, for example, will be showcasing its new SwanBarrier range of sustainable papers, which has been developed for dry and greasy food wrappings and which contain no polyethylene coating or fluorochemicals, meaning they are fully recyclable and biodegradeable.

Customer concerns

Thomas Ehrnrooth, UPM Paper’s vice-president of marketing and communications, says: "Sustainability and environmental issues are becoming more and more important for paper customers. The trend we are seeing in European markets is a demand for affordable, well-functioning papers that don’t compromise on environmental performance."

Of course, a hot environmental debate at Drupa will be what sorts of inks to use on these substrates. Inks are an integral part of making a print operation as green as possible, explains Fran?ois Martin, HP GSB worldwide marketing director.

For Martin, solvent-free is the future. "For wide-format printers the focus will almost certainly be on environmentally enhanced products, as there is virtually no reason to purchase solvent-based products anymore," he says, explaining that the latex printers HP will be demonstrating at Drupa will include non-flammable and non-combustible, water-based HP latex inks, which require no special ventilation equipment or external dryers.

But eco-inks should not mean performance is compromised, says Martin. "While people may be moving into digital, they don’t want any trade-off on quality," he says. "We’ll be showcasing a new Electroink on our B2 Indigo 10000 press, which, with its use of oil to dilute the pigments, has been enhanced to help high image and text quality on a wide range of substrates."

So while the environment will be high on the agendas of those shopping for consumables this year, the age-old concerns of cost and quality will remain king. Martin confirms: "The feedback we have been getting from our customers is that they will primarily be looking for quality that is consistent across a range of substrates."

While some in the consumables sector draw crowds with arresting spectacles, they will also be focusing on getting the basics right. The likes of Trelleborg and Kodak will, then, be hoping to show there is more to a fun art gallery or attractive plate wall than just a pretty face.