EDP Awards 2019: The Beauty & Power of Innovation in Print
Group picture of the winners of the EDP Awards 2019 (from left): Andrea Riccardi, Durst Group; Alexander Demmler, LacunaSolutions (slightly hidden); Alan Clarke, Xerox; Bernd Rückert, CGS; Oliver Lüdtke, Kornit; Dirk Devroye, Mutoh (also slightly concealed); Stefan Steinle, Kodak); Maarten Goethals, Fujifilm; Giuseppe Galluci, Elitron; Philip Van der Auwera, Agfa; Kevin Shimamoto, Memjet; Michael Smetana and Raquel Villacaña, both HP; Nicolas Venance, MGI; Carmen Eicher, swissQprint; Nico Olejniczak, ClaoudLab; Bert Benckhuysen and Tobias Sternbeck, Mimaki; Gillian Montanaro, Roland DG; Dirk Deroo, Data- line; Oliver Zünd, Zünd.
Competition with an international dimension | On 15 May 2019, during Fespa 2019 in Munich the European Digital Press Association (EDP) celebrated the 28 winners of their 13th EDP Awards.
My Take
There are many awards going on around the globe. And these are extremely popular with technology suppliers. However, the focus should rather be on buyers and users of products. Those, who are interested in the best of the best, means actually useful, because valuable innovations. In other words, those that the market needs and can make good use of. In this respect, the independence and maximum qualification of the jury is crucial.
Hardly any other international award can access such a long history and expertise as the EDP Award. Because EDP stands for European Digital Press Association and is supported by the leading specialist journalists in Europe. It could not be better! — This especially for me as a clear reference to the social media marketing and PR/communication departments, which lately too often think that trade press would not be so important or even old school.
Andreas Weber, Head of Value
On 15 May, the second day of Fespa 2019 in Munich, the EDP Association (European Digital Press Association) presented the coveted and renowned EDP Awards to 28 winners for the 13th time since its foundation in the presence of some 80 guests. The EDP Awards are Europe’s only technology contest in the industry and an open competition for all products announced and launched in the market over the last twelve months.
The winners are selected by an expert commission (the EDP Technical Committee), which selects the submitted products according to criteria such as innovation, quality, performance and costs. Due to these strict criteria, there are no votings in the internet or any other public votes. It’s tech- nical criteria, not popularity. This is the only way the EDP can guarantee that the performance of manufacturers is honoured for the development of new technologies. Thus the logo of the EDP Awards stands for innovation and quality, offers orientation and gives a neutral recommendation for purchase decisions of the users.
All Winners at a Glance
During the Awards Ceremony Klaus-Peter Nicolay, President of the EDP Association, pointed out that the EDP Awards have become the “most prestigious and valuable technical award for the digital print business in Europe” in the last years.
An EDP Award undoubtedly enhances the award-winning product. “But we also know that the EDP Awards can only be presented because the industry is willing to submit their products to the competition and give us insight into their developments,” said Nicolay and made it clear: “We have the highest respect for the individual performance of each manufacturer. Every company that participates in the EDP Awards is a winner. Because it takes courage to face the competition and a jury — especially in times when even the slightest weakness is interpreted as failure”.
And it would be a misunderstanding to reduce the EDP Awards purely to Europe. Of course, the EDP Awards are an European competition, but one with an international character and globally active participants. The EDP Awards 2019 will once again feature a colourful mix of finalists and winners from Belgium, China, Germany, France, UK, Israel, Italy, Japan, Canada, the Netherlands, Austria, Spain, Switzerland and the USA.
This year 28 trophies were presented to the winners during the EDP Awards Ceremony in Munich. Products from the five main categories software/hardware, print (large and wide format printing as well as commercial printing), industrial solutions, finishing and consumables were awarded.
EDP Report 2019
The participating products and results of this year’s EDP Awards are published in detail in the 68-page ‘EDP Report 2019’ together with the comments of the jury.
The printed version can be requested via nico(at)edp-award.com , the corresponding PDF can be downloaded from the EDP website.
Source and Contact
Klaus-Peter Nicolay, President of the EDP Association
T +49 2671 3836
E nico(at)edp-award.com
Note
At the same time, the closing session of #XeroxForum 2019 in Portugal was a great success: around 400 participants from all over the world saw that what they were able to see in the marketplace exhibition on site received the highest accolade at the FESPA 2019 in Munich, Germany.
Cheers! ✨ Our innovative Iridesse Press won top honors at the #EDPawards. https://t.co/t8OpolUPA7 @EDPAwards @FESPA #FESPA2019
— Xerox (@Xerox) May 16, 2019