Largest Exhibitor Readies for Show

Early next month, Drupa 2004's single largest exhibitor, Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG of Germany, will begin preparation of its sprawling displays, which will fill Halls 1 and 2 at the Düsseldorf Fairgrounds. Although the 14-day exposition doesn't open until May 6, each day for the next two months up to 280 people will be working on set-up of Heidelberg's exhibits, in addition to as many as 300 people assigned to such support duties as security and catering.

During the show itself, as many as 1,800 Heidelberg personnel will be on hand in the two halls each day, most of them in direct contact with customers and visitors, other serving in management and operations roles. Exhibit details are still being finalized, but the company expects to demonstrate as many as 50 machines, covering all its product categories.

Heidelberg's displays will occupy about 84,000 square feet of floor space, about the size of an entire football field plus three-quarters of a second. The area is the same as the company's exhibits at the Drupa 2000 show.

Here's a glimpse at the materials and efforts involved in preparing the display.

About 580 tons of materials, mainly steel and wood, are going into the installation of stages and theaters, offices, conference rooms, storage areas, dining rooms, and customer reception areas.

Technicians will lay more than 40 miles of data lines and electrical cables, install 2,500 spotlights and 120 loudspeakers, mount 30 cameras, and set up about 70 plasma screens.

In all, exhibit preparations and the shipment of equipment will require 240 heavy-duty truckloads (each up to 40 tons), plus 450 light truckloads.

As for the actual layout of exhibits—many Drupa 2000 visitors still remember the elevated wooden "bridge" that diagonally traversed Heidelberg's main hall, which allowed an unobstructed view of working machinery—company managers note that, with continuing integration in the industry, individual "solution centers" will be less formalized in favor of a workflow approach.

Readers in the U.S. interested in attending Drupa 2004 may obtain show and travel information from Messe Düsseldorf North America in Chicago by phoning (312) 781-5180, e-mailing to info@mdna.com, or visiting www.mdna.com on the Web.

Next month in Countdown Drupa: Visitor travel packages from the U.S., a look at the North American Pavilion, and a primer on German business customs.