Newspaper industry suppliers are rising to the challenge of difficult times, and will be an innovative force at Ifra Expo 2009 (Vienna October 12–15 October), organisers say. Future-oriented technologies, new business models and innovations that secure newspaper publishing houses and media houses the road to a successful future will be shown. WAN-Ifra specialists have identified key trends for the exhibition: “There is a major demand for technical innovations especially in difficult times,” says group supplier services and exhibitions director Michael Heipel. “The spirit of innovation is unbroken.” Solutions on display will cover all production and added-value areas at the publishing houses: Cross-media publishing and advertising – The need to use different output channels is no longer disputed. Convergence in the newsroom and media variety are becoming increasingly commonplace at publishing houses, something that will also be clearly reflected in the offerings shown at the expo. On display will be modular systems covering all work steps, from product planning, production tracking and control, ad-taking and processing, up to editorial and output on different channels. An interesting aspect here is the question as to whether a manufacturer integrates these modules himself or offers interfaces to third-party systems – almost a philosophical question, but one that is decisive for the customers where safeguarding the future of an editorial or advertising system is concerned. New features include, for example, automatic indexing, associative search, extended audio and video functions. Jochen Dieckow, WAN-Ifra research manager for emerging digital platforms and business development, says the major success of iPhones and HTC telephones shows the direction in which mobile publishing is going: “The growth rates in the use of the mobile internet and mobile applications are immense, no publishing house today can afford not to use this channel. A large number of suppliers will demonstrate how publishing houses can show ‘mobile’ presence with just a minor investment of resources.” Besides the mobile output channels, Web 2.0 platforms, such as Twitter or Facebook, are becoming increasingly important. Editorial systems must be flexible to efficiently incorporate new channels and integrate their strengths. This makes the feedback of the (online) readers directly visible and allows it to be entered into the editorial work. Manufacturers of content management systems will show various new developments in this area, such as polls, televoting and quiz games. The possibility to place ads on various channels and in a context-related environment is becoming more and more important. Systems will be presented that permit such cross-media campaign bookings and therefore help increase profits. In the area of print there are attractive special types of advertising to discover that, in combination with geomarketing and fine-zoning, offer further potentials for generating print revenues. Improving quality in print, retrofitting and hybrid printing – “The key to increasing the standard of print quality lies to a large degree in the prepress sector. IFRA Expo has some very interesting further developments of workflow systems, colour optimisation and automated image processing tools to show in this area”, Manfred Werfel, WAN-IFRA group director for newspaper production and deputy chief executivesays. “Especially at the present time, efforts are being made to achieve improvements in quality and efficiency with existing printing installations. Both press manufacturers and systems integrators are seizing upon this trend, generally referred to as ‘retrofitting’. Exchanging drives or press controls, converting to shaftless operation or re-configuring presses can increase the useful life of a press and increase its printing quality. Thermographic inspections permit the early recognition and aimed tackling of weak points. WAN-IFRA is dedicating a complete Focus Session to the topic of retrofit during the exhibition, which will include case studies (Wednesday, October14 at 10 am). Vlada Mihailovic, CEO of Südostschweiz Partner, one of the lecturers at the Focus Session tackles the questions of buying new or retrofitting – new investment, part or complete modernisation. “Besides technology, efficiency plays a key role in this decision,” he says. “Retrofit can be a serious alternative to investing in new equipment especially in cases where older installations are still in a very good mechanical state.” The ability to print heatset and coldset on the same press opens up new sales and customer potentials. The technologies required for this, such as UV drying, can be discovered at the exhibition. Extensive experience is now available of working with the waterless offset process, and IFRA Expo will offer the opportunity for intensive discussions on this topic. Automation, reducing costs and outsourcing – Automation makes a major contribution to reducing costs in the press hall. Quality-guaranteed plate edge-bending, sorting and conveying to the press, up to automatic plate loading (APL), will be shown at the exhibition. Leading suppliers will also demonstrate that there continues to be further potential for automation in the mailroom. Human resources have been reduced at many publishing houses, thus making it necessary to consider the prospect of outsourcing. But efficient system solutions are required for managing the accounts and controlling outside service providers, and such solutions will be presented at IFRA Expo. “Especially for ad production and booking there are interesting ‘customer self-service’ models that both minimise the workload at the publishing house and offer customers an attractive service. The ‘virtual branch office’ opens up new sources of revenue through cross-media concepts,” Harald Löffler, WAN-IFRA research manager for editorial, advertising and general management says. “Various suppliers are showing outsourcing solutions ranging from server hosting, call centres, content management systems, information processing and broadcasting, up to content syndication and office outsourcing. Interesting solutions will be presented also for the area of maintenance, service and provision of personnel.” Sustainability – “Despite the fact that the focus is at present on economic efficiency, it is important not to lose sight of the time ‘after the crisis’ – which is when environmental topics will quickly return to centre stage”, Beatrix Beckmann, WAN-IFRA research manager for newspaper production materials expects. Low-chemistry or chemistry-free plates will be offered. Regulations on bactericides expected to come into force in 2010 will call for new solutions. Newspaper production research manager Roland Thees says technologies that save resources, such as ink or waste, innovative blanket washing systems as well as systems for the waterless offset process will be shown at the exhibition. All press manufacturers at the expo offer solutions for environment-friendly production. As a result of the support of WAN-IFRA partner AbitibiBowater, IfraExpo is itself is a CO2-neutral event.