Offset Printing - Sheet-Fed

At the official drupa 2012 International Media Conference, more than 100 media delegates eagerly awaited to hear about the latest drupa product launches that were going to be revealed during the three-day press briefing. Werner Matthias Dornscheidt, CEO and president of Messe Düsseldorf GmbH, reported that the show is sold out.

Lithocraft’s philosophy has been to go with full-sized sheetfed presses to help differentiate itself from many local shops that had taken the half-size route. Three years ago, it became clear that continued success would depend on entering new markets. After researching UV for about a year, Lithocraft decided to start the vetting process for a UV press.

M13 Graphics, a retail design and printing company, recently invested in a Mitsubishi Diamond 3000S sheetfed press with hybrid UV and aqueous coating capabilities. The printer bills $7 million in annual sales, with its services primarily sold on the Internet.

Throughout the process of the restructuring, the Westmont, IL-based North American group has continued to operate, completing press installations, providing printservices parts and service, and printcom consumables. “Under our new ownership, manroland’s North American operations can move forward as a more nimble, flatter entity,” North American Sales Vice President Michael Mugavero stated.

CPI Card Group, a leader in identification card production, is preparing for a successful 2012 by ordering a 41" KBA Rapida 105 seven-color, UV-equipped sheetfed press. “Management at CPI Card Group has seen a dramatic increase in our order intake and the need to fulfill press orders with additional capacity,” reports Paul Boge, general manager.

KBA North America announces that it has set a new record with the installation of 10 presses at customers in the Southeast during 2011. The press models range from the award-winning Genius 52 UV to the large-format Rapida 142 press.

Tony Langley, the self-described industrialist whose Langley Holdings Plc. took over the sheetfed unit of Germany’s insolvent manroland AG, plans to return the printing-press maker to profit this year. Langley doesn’t see the need for any more restructuring and has no plans to fire any of the 1,000 workers remaining at the factory in Offenbach near Frankfurt, he said today at a press conference.

Langley, who pilots his own plane to Germany and back home to England every week, sees long-term “conservative” growth for the printing-press industry. “In my lifetime and my kids lifetime, there will still be print media.”

“The purchase of the new 64" Heidelberg is a further testament to Annan & Bird’s commitment to answering our customers’ demands to improve quality, support brand integrity through repeat consistency, and shorten turn times, all while reducing the environmental impact of print,” said John Bird, president of Annan & Bird.

“He (Alfred Rothlaender) is a vastly experienced managing director who I know can be relied on during the transition between the former institutional management style of manroland AG and the leaner, more flexible way that our companies do things,” Langley said.

In a moving address to the entire assembled workforce of over 850 people in Offenbach today, Tony Langley said, “today was the beginning of a new era” and that he was confident the company would succeed. “We foresee very good economic prospects for manroland sheetfed following the recent restructuring.”