CITO and drupa 2021?

Several weeks have passed since the drupa was postponed to April 2021. The Corona crisis has helped us to get to pay more attention to digital communication. Indeed, we have come closer together and communicate more often than before the crisis. We are now using all possible forms of video conferencing. At the beginning it was difficult, but we have all learned to handle these digital tools better. This is one aspect.

The second aspect is, how much longer the travel restrictions will apply. How many visitors could we expect to see at a drupa 2021? How will the crisis affect our economy overall? The investment in a trade fair such as drupa is very large, not only financially but also the effort required. Is it worth it? A large number of question marks. It is, of course, undisputed that such events are not at all positive for our climate. We have therefore decided not to exhibit at drupa 2021. We are not the only ones and it can be assumed that further cancellations will follow in the coming months. Regardless of how many question marks there might be, it simply just is not possible to postpone all the planning for June 2020 by a year. That which was highly topical in June 2020 is already old in April 2021.

We have decided that it is better to invest the time and financial resources earmarked for participating in drupa in developing our digital communications instead. Together with our partner Bobst Group SA, we want to transform the Competence Center into a Smart Factory. There it will be possible to work with our customers to simulate their individual workflow, from the CAD design through to the finished product. At the same time, we are already working with full power on a new version of our online seminars. In future, there will also be a CITO troubleshooting app. It will offer solutions for specific problems. Our CITO News will also become a digital platform; in future, news will be broadcast here by video news. The news will then also have foreign language subtitles. We will reorganise the cutting die producer of the CITO GROUP in the CITO Tooling Center. Then we will be able to hold direct live online training in toolmaking. Through all these measures we will all gain significantly more than in a 10-day event held every 4 to 5 years.

We naturally do not want to forego in-person encounters in the future. Our experts will naturally continue to be available to you on site in the future and it goes without saying that in future you will be welcome to visit us at any time. Through our partnership with BOBST, we now have even more options available for technical demonstrations and support. We are therefore very much looking forward to entering a new age together with you.

Jürgen Mariën
CEO CITO GROUP
Schwaig/Germany, 04. June 2020