As drupa prepares to open its doors to the public, I am wondering if two announcements in the past week may indicate a major change in the printing industry, and also a new lease of life for two of the leading offset press vendors. From the time of the announcement of his return to the printing industry with a release at drupa, Benny Landa’s Landa Corporation was always going to be one of the highlights of the show. The Landa Nanographic printing technology has generated great interest with its claims to offer the highest quality digital printing with offset speeds and running costs. The announcement of a range of presses using Landa Nanography from B3 to B1 format certainly made me wonder how a new company could make such a major introduction knowing just how long it takes to bring a new press and a new technology to market. 

On April 27 we got a clue how this is being done. This was of a global strategic partnership whereby Landa Corporation will license Komori Corporation to manufacture and market digital printing presses for commercial and other printing markets using Landa’s Nanographic Printing process. Benny Landa, Landa Founder, Chairman and CEO, says, “We have enjoyed an intimate relationship with Komori, which is our supplier of paper handling platforms for our new Nanographic sheetfed presses. Komori was the first to be exposed to our technology and was the first to share our vision. I am therefore particularly delighted that Komori is the first-to-be-announced global strategic partner with whom we will be sharing this huge market opportunity.”

Then on April 30 another key announcement was made. manroland sheetfed GmbH of Offenbach, Germany, and Landa Corporation announced a strategic partnership whereby Landa will provide manroland sheetfed with its Nanographic Printing technology.