Fujifilm Europe senior vice-president Ryuta Masui talks to Darryl Danielli

Ryuta Masui (r) with Darryl Danielli

What are the key trends impacting the visitors and, of course, your customers?

I think that the new technologies that take the industry beyond the usual print applications are key, and all of this is supported by the R&D investments by companies such as Fujifilm.

Do you think Drupa is too focused on technology, though?

Obviously it’s traditional for Drupa to focus heavily on technology, but I think this year’s show is highlighting a lot of applications. I don’t think that you can separate the two, though – new technologies create new applications and new applications can drive new technologies.

On the subject of technology, when you showed your B2 inkjet press at Drupa 2008 there were only a handful of similar machines. However, at this year’s show many new vendors are showing B2 digital presses. Is that a concern?

Four years ago, we showed the Jetpress 720 as a technology demonstration. At this year’s show, it is commercially available. So while we welcome any newcomers to the B2 digital market, I think we’re substantially ahead of our rivals.

But do you think the demand for B2 digital is big enough to support the number of vendors now entering the sector?

I think potentially the market could be one of the biggest in digital printing. Right now, though, I don’t think it is so large, but I fully expect demand to rise though as printers realise the potential.

What’s the one piece of advice you would like to pass on to you customers?

We always learn from our customers and we’re not arrogant enough to tell them how to run their businesses. But if I had to, I would just say talk to us – tell us what you and your business need so we can work on developing the solutions that will help.