Some further thoughts about Ipex 2014. I’ve been studying the current floorplan for the show. Obviously it was a work in progress even before the recent announcements from HP and Heidelberg. But what’s notable is that the area set aside for offset presses and ancillaries looks like it accounts for less than a quarter of the available floorspace. Even less than that now, having taken an eraser to the 2,150sqm that had been assigned to Heidelberg. By far the lion’s share of space on the plan – at least 50% – is taken up by digital exhibitors. The rest is finishing. I’m also thinking about a whole heap of digital launches from Drupa that won’t actually be commercially available until the Ipex timeframe. As Professor Frank Romano noted on his recent visit to PrintWeek Towers: “That’s why Ipex is so important.” For obvious reasons, the digital suppliers have a lot more going on in the way of new product developments than the heavy metal end of our industry. And who knows? The economic situation might even have perked up by then. Talking to the boss of one digital press manufacturer yesterday, he was excited about his pipeline of new products, and by the idea that Ipex could turn out to be a very big digital show where his company could potentially shine without the usual competition for attention from HP. He’s in a very different position regarding filling his sales pipeline than ‘traditional’ manufacturers who, in his words “have no new kit and know all their customers.” In this respect the Ipex team should have a strong story to tell and sell.