Yves Rogivue is Chief Executive Officer of MAN Roland Inc. - the North American division of MAN Roland Druckmaschinen AG, with headquarters in Chicago. Rogivue began his association with the MAN Roland Group in 1989, when he was brought on-board to establish and manage the company’s sales and service operations in Istanbul, Turkey. In 1994 Rogivue left to pursue an MBA degree at INSEAD Fontainebleau in Paris, France. He returned in 1995 to head the acquisition, reorganization and management of MAN Roland’s South African operation in Johannesburg. Two years later, he moved north to lead MAN Roland’s Switzerland division to a new level of success. He was promoted from that post in February 2001 to direct the North American unit. The holder of a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Zurich, Switzerland, Rogivue has extensive language skills in German, French and English. Before joining MAN Roland, he served as an executive advisor with Andersen Consulting in Switzerland. QUESTION: Yves, 2001 was a challenging year for many in the industry, especially printers who were caught between new equipment "just purchased" or the inability to acquire new equipment. Describe MAN Roland's dealings with printers in 2001. Yves Rogivue: It’s our philosophy at MAN Roland to do everything we can to help our customers grow their businesses. We’re not being altruistic in that regard, although I’m told we’re known as the "good guys" in the industry. The bottom line is that we prosper only if our customers prosper, so our total focus is on helping our customers turn their challenges into opportunities. That doesn’t mean that we go out and buy marketshare by supporting facilities that are not economically viable with sweetheart deals. Those kinds of arrangements only harm our industry over the long term by artificially ratcheting down print prices. Nobody wins when that happens. When a downturn hits like it did recently, you have to reevaluate how you run your operation, and that goes for manufacturers as well as printers. So in June we decentralized our operations here in North America. We transferred more authority and more resources to the regional offices so they can connect more directly with our customers and prospective MAN Roland users. Now our field representatives, and we think of them more as consultants than sales reps, are in a better position to review a customer’s pressroom or bindery workflow and make sure he is making the most of his MAN Roland equipment. If it’s a new press the customer just bought, the field rep makes sure that he’s maxing out all the automation benefits that are built into it. That’s going to save time, manpower and money, so the printer will be competitive in the bidding process and he’s going to win more work. As to printers using older equipment, we can work out a plan by which they can incrementally upgrade as economic conditions improve. For instance, they can add software modules to their PECOM command and control systems to benefit from networked printing. Or they can take advantage of our new ServiceVision diagnostic tool to minimize their downtime. QUESTION: MAN Roland is well known for supporting industry causes that encourage education. Tell us about your specific efforts in this area and why it is important for MAN Roland to participate in these organizations. Yves Rogivue: We have an umbrella program for all of our educational endeavors that we call Learning Leadership. We have to make sure that the students of today are in touch with the technological advancements we’re creating for the printing facilities of tomorrow. That’s why Learning Leadership goes beyond the one-shot equipment donation scenario and is developing ongoing partnerships between MAN Roland and America’s leading educational and research facilities Even as we speak, we’re in the process of installing a multimillion-dollar four-color Rotoman web-offset press at GATF headquarters in Pittsburgh. It’s going to play a major role in the Foundation’s web offset training and research programs. This is a fully operational system - 65,000 copies per hour, Power Plate Loading. shaftless drives, a combination folder, our PECOM command and control center, the works. Learning Leadership has also developed a virtual pressroom for students at RIT. The innovation is built around PECOM and a series of web cams that we have strategically positioned throughout our demo center in Chicago. It enables the students to follow and influence live print jobs being performed at MAN Roland in real time, without leaving their classroom. So we’re exploring a whole new way to put the latest technology in the students‘ hands without the construction and capital expenditures that usually go with it. The program virtually hands RIT instructors the digital keys to our Westmont Graphics Center so that their students can makeready jobs and conduct virtual print runs online, using our PECOM PressMonitor and JobPilot modules. Then they can see the results of their work using the webcam link. In both these cases, GATF and RIT, the relationship is ongoing. There will be continual dialog, training and upgrading just as we’d do for any of our customers. Learning Leadership also works on a more grassroots level. For instance last month, I spent a day at Cal Poly, briefing students in the graphic arts program there on the latest technological advances in our business. And a few weeks ago, we had a group of print management students from Ball State University visited our graphics center in Chicago to program and plate the presses and run some live jobs. They had a great time, and a series of return visits are in the works. QUESTION: What trends do you see on the horizon for the printing industry as it relates to the types of print jobs produced? Do you see shorter runs, more variable and bettery stability in long runs, etc.? Yves Rogivue: Yes, yes and yes. As your question indicates, the very essence of our industry, as fathomed by the types of products and services print buyers demand, is changing. That’s why it’s important that our technology keep constantly improving in increments our customers can accommodate. So for instance, our PECOM networked command and control system was built from the start to be module in nature. Users can update their pressrooms considerably, simply by adding software that runs on the latest PC or workstation. But this issue goes beyond technology. It goes right to the mindset of the people who are running the presses. How are they facing radical changes in their working lives brought on changing customer demands? Our answer is they need an organized way to be proactive toward the changes ahead, rather than reacting. So earlier this year, we created a new group called PowerPrinters. Much more than a users’ group, PowerPrinters will open a continuing dialog among the press operators who run MAN Roland presses. Through special events and targeted communications, they will be able to share their successes to become stronger as a group and as individual printers. How can I cope with shorter and shorter runs? How can I save on ink costs? Which innovations truly make makereadies faster? These are the types of business-building issues that will be discussed and resolved by PowerPrinters. The solutions will be on the money because they will have been developed by printers who are at the top of their game. PowerPrinters will be fully supported by the resources of MAN Roland. That means not only will club activities be dues-free, but that the group will have a direct connection to top MAN Roland experts. As a result, each PowerPrinter will not only learn the latest on getting the most from current MAN Roland innovations, but the group will have direct input on the technology we’re developing for the future. Training is also a big part of the PowerPrinters experience. We just finished our first week-long certification course earlier this month. All of the operators involved had limited experience in running presses with the level of automation that’s required to handle short-run workflows. By the end of the week, their fears about running the most highly automated machine in the industry were replaced by high confidence levels and an eagerness to embrace the new technology. QUESTION: On the product front, tell us about DICOweb and will this reach into digital change the types of customers that MAN Roland currently targets? Yves Rogivue: DICO stands for digital changeover, and the press lives up to its name, capable of speeding from job-to-job in less than ten minutes. Only two of those minutes are required for imaging the press. An exclusive MAN Roland design utilizes laser imaging heads and a patented thermoplastic transfer medium to apply the job directly to the DICOweb’s image carrying cylinders. Then when the print run is completed, the image is automatically erased to ready the cylinders for the next project. DICOweb’s unique ability to image, erase and re-image jobs results in significant productivity gains for the printer who uses the new system. The DICOweb is, as the name says, more of a digital changeover device than a press, since the printer actually earns his money with efficient changeovers. DICOweb’s plateless design allowed MAN Roland engineers to incorporate many of the industry’s latest mechanical developments into the system. For instance, the press is powered by digitally controlled motors that drive its print units directly, eliminating the need for external shafts and gear trains. Also: DICOweb’s plate and blanket cylinders are crafted as tubular sleeves. That allows the pressman to change them quickly and easily. But more importantly, the advanced mechanical features improve printing performance. With a seamless cylinder, you have eliminated from the device the greatest enemy of quality and speed, and the greatest limit on print quality - vibration. DICOweb’s modular nature also helps preserve the printer’s investment in the system. Down the road, DICOweb-equipped plants will be able to switch to different cutoff sizes and even different print processes to better accommodate their customers’ needs. MAN Roland researchers are already studying the development of ferroelectric image carrying cylinders that incorporate the principle of "memory ceramics." That would give DICOweb the ability to swap-out variable data elements within an image on the fly, while retaining the main fixed elements of the job. The advancement would cut down on the time and expense of re-RIPping entire pages to produce one-to-one and variable data products. QUESTION: Explain PECOM and the benefits that can be achieved with this workflow solution. Yves Rogivue: In short, PECOM means uptime. A more detailed explanation focuses on Computer Integrated Manufacturing. CIM has become a big buzzword in the graphic arts recently, but it is nothing new at MAN Roland. In fact, you’d have to go back to Drupa 90, for the introduction of our PECOM digital command and control system, and to IPEX 98, for the launch of PECOM’s networking functionality, to track the injection of CIM into the print production workflow. Today, over 700 printing plants around the world are taking advantage of the efficiencies of CIM because their MAN Roland presses - both web and sheetfed - are PECOM controlled. The acronym stands for Process Electronic Control, Organization and Management. And as the name indicates, PECOM goes beyond control of press operations to organize a facility’s entire workflow, while connecting the management function to the pulse of the printing plant, or even to multiple facilities. On web models, a separate folding control console allows the pressman to remotely supervise this vital postpress function. PECOM is modular, so a printer can add new levels of automation as he goes along. For instance, JobPilot lets operators set the parameters for each job on-line but off-press. So the MAN Roland can be profitably running, while all of the specifications of the next job are keyed in. And PrepressLink can digitally connect the pressroom to the prepress suite, so ink keys can be preset directly from prepress data. Meanwhile, ManagementLink connects PECOM to leading Management Information Systems, such as Logic and Hagen, which are supplied by Printcafe. That puts the adminstrative side of the business online with PECOM, so functions like bidding on a job or invoicing are a seamless part of the workflow. In a nutshell, PECOM delivers all of the benefits of CIM because it is a fully integrated system. Other press manufacturers have only begun to address the many benefits CIM offers, so their solutions are fragmented, which defeats the whole purpose of integrating all elements of the manufacturing process. QUESTION: There has been much discussion about the recent brand share and after sale support survey conducted by WhatTheyThink.com and CAP Ventures. Among the findings was the fact that service and support were essential when printers decide on the purchase of new equipment. Tell us about your support network and the level of expertise a printer can expect after deciding upon MAN Roland equipment. Yves Rogivue: Your survey report correctly pointed out that service is one the main factors determining overall customer satisfaction. I’d take that a step further and say if you’re a manufacturer and you don’t provide superior service, you will soon be an ex-manufacturer. That’s why I was not surprised that there was no clear-cut winner in the question that rated manufacturers on the issue of service. All of the companies named achieved ratings that showed that they provided their customers with above average service. Of course we don’t just rely on outside surveys to make sure our customers are getting everything they need. We communicate with them directly on a continuous basis through our North American technical and consulting forces. Last year, we systematized the listening process by adding a quality control specialist to our Chicago staff. Her focused task is to poll our customers so we can find out what we’re doing right and how we can help them face new challenges as market conditions change. We just got the results of her service survey last month. More than 82 percent responded positively to our overall service performance. Over 95 percent praised the professionalism of our technicians, and 85 percent said their last service call was handled in a timely manner. That tells me we’re doing a great job, but we’re not going to rest. One of the innovations we’re implementing is called ServiceVision. It arms our customers’ press operators with wireless webcams that they can use to show our Rapid Response Team in Chicago what’s not working on their presses. ServiceVision works with our Remote Service Diagnostics, which is part of the PECOM package. RSD allows our service technicians to remotely monitor virtually any press function, to download running data, and to apply software fixes. When coupled with real time images from ServiceVision, RSD becomes even more powerful and effective as a service tool. Our aim here is to significantly reduce the need for a service call, saving our customers money, and reducing their downtime to a minimum. RSD is integral to our PECOM system, and as I said before, PECOM means uptime. So it is the aim of our technical infrastructure – our after sales service - to support this uptime in two ways: Proactively, by making sure our customers are getting the most from their machines’ capabilities. And reactively providing quick response when there is a problem. Our service products are clustered around these two points. A related new initiative is called TeleTech Service, which we plan to launch this summer. It will allow our customers to access the expertise of our Rapid Rapid Response Team more easily whenever an emergency arises. A press operator can be walked through a solution to his problem over the phone - again eliminating the need and expense of a live service call. We’re also in the process of improving our parts operation. The effort is centered on the relocation of our spares and supplies warehousing and distribution operations from the East Coast to a new central facility near our Chicago headquarters. Our objective here is to improve our response time. One more aspect about our service capabilities that I’d like to mention is that we’re used to dealing with big, complicating challenges. We get that experience from being one of the largest makers of commercial web presses and the world’s leading manufacturer of newspaper presses. So for instance, we’re currently in the process of installing four web presses at the Indianapolis Star, which are at the heart of the paper’s $72 million new production center. You have to be on top of your game to handle a project like that. And I’m pleased to report that the ramp-up at the Indy Star is right on schedule. QUESTION: MAN Roland has an aggressive strategy to help printers reach maximum potential with the equipment they acquire. Obviously, it helps to sell more machines to the same customer and helps the customer achieve greater profitability. Tell us about this strategy of helping the printer “max out” their current MAN Roland equipment. Yves Rogivue: We consider our executive field force to be consultants rather than salesmen. Sure they’ll sell you a press, but first they’ll want to carefully go over every aspect of your workflow to make sure that the system you want is the system you need. Then once the press is installed, they’ll work with our technicians to make sure it’s producing optimally. But there’s a marketing issue at work here as well. When a market segment like commercial printing is in the doldrums, we want our customers to be able to have the flexibility of shifting into sectors that are on the rise, like packaging printing. Trends like Just In Time production, litho laminate cartons, and short versioned runs are making offset sheetfed presses ideal package printing vehicles. But there’s a catch. They have to be able to handle heavy board. That’s why we built our 500, 700 and 900 models to handle 1mm plus stock without any problems and without any modification. Commercial printers who run those presses can do both packaging and commercial work and keep busy through good times and bad. Other sheetfed manufacturers have special presses designed for packaging because their standard models can’t do the job. We on the other hand, build opportunity into our presses. For the same reason, even multi-perfecting is standard on many of our machines. The feature gives printer the opportunity to cost effectively bid on a whole new universe of work that would not be accessible without perfecting. PECOM, of course, is another way our customers maximize their systems. But helping our customers make the most of their equipment goes beyond the technology. Programs I described earlier, like PowerPrinters, improved service, and Learning Leadership make sure that the human side of the equation is addressed. Because at the end of the day, printing is people. QUESTION: We have reported on the issues with Xeikon and their attempt to find a suitable buyer. Punch has since been determined as the new owner of Xeikon NV. What information can you share about MAN Roland's attempt to acquire Xeikon NV? Yves Rogivue: First some background. Three of our digital printing solutions: DICOpress, DICOpage and DICOpack utilize Xeikon print engines. We started marketing those products in Europe beginning at Drupa 2000 and here in America at Print 01. So it was natural for us to become one of the main bidders when Xeikon’s assets were put up on the block. We placed what we thought was a reasonable bid for Xeikon. Obviously Punch valued those assets more. QUESTION: What does this mean in terms of the OEM agreements that were in place with Xeikon? Will MAN Roland continue with the current agreements that were put in place in 2000? Yves Rogivue: We’re currently in negotiations with several manufacturers, including Punch, to work out these issues, so I can’t comment on specifics at this time. But I can say definitively that MAN Roland will fully support any of our customers who are running DICO systems that are driven by Xeikon engines. I can also report that MAN Roland will offer a full range of digital print solutions - in addition to our own DICOweb - regardless of how our negotiations with Punch transpire. There is a growing demand for variable data printing, and we’re going to continue to provide solutions that help our customers get into that niche that thrive in it. So to sum up: MAN Roland will continue to strengthen its range of variable data printing solutions. We will ensure the supply of spares and consumables for our DICOpress customers. And we are in negotiations with several manufacturers, including Punch, to bring the best digital printing technology to the marketplace. QUESTION: You reported success at PRINT 01 with the number of solid leads generated at the show. Comment on your sales efforts in terms of trade shows and other channels of sales that MAN Roland uses. Yves Rogivue: Although we did have a decent PRINT 01, we’re beginning to see what might be an overall decline in the cost effectiveness in trade shows. In fact this month we are surveying our customers, as well as a control group of non-customers, to determine what they think of the trade show experience and how it can be handled more effectively. We’re also asking them what types of media they feel is most effective for bringing them news about our innovations. Is it magazines? Is it direct mail? Is it a website like WhatTheyThink.com? Or do trade shows still rank up there? I believe there will always be a need for trade expos in our business, but the shows might look and feel a lot different in the future. The results of our survey will help us gauge the validity of that premise. The problem is that it takes many, many thousands of dollars to operate a press at a trade show. Think of the logistics involved. You have only a few days to install a sophisticated manufacturing system and get it running perfectly. You have to feed it tons of ink and paper, and remove tons of printed product in an environment that is not production friendly. So your investment is enormous. Is it worth it to have virtually your whole sheetfed line-up running? At Print 01 it worked, but at Graph Expo it would be overkill. Maybe you’re better off running one or two systems - because nothing beats the magic of watching a press in action. But then the rest of your story could be told using multimedia. So your space commitment and your dollar commitment would be a lot less. And you could use those dollars to reach your customers and the marketplace in other ways. QUESTION: Finally, who does MAN Roland view as its competition and how do you separate yourself within the confines of a sales call with a customer? Yves Rogivue: I tend to take a big picture view of who and what our competition is. Look at it from the perspective of the transportation industry. First there were sailing ships, then the railroads dominated as the fastest way to get from point A to point B, and finally planes emerged as the ultimate in passenger transportation. Now the shipping companies didn’t think to invent the railroads, and the railroads didn’t have the intuition to invest in flying machines. But the question is: Why didn’t they? They were the transportation experts of their respective eras. Why didn’t they develop the next big thing in their sector? Why didn’t they see what was coming? We are in the communications industry. So it is in our best interest to look beyond the printing and beyond the manufacture of presses to seek out better technologies, new ways of doing things. In the 90s, the Internet was seen as a huge competitive threat by printers and manufacturers alike. Today, we’re benefiting from the convergence of web-based technologies with our own. So what had been the competition has evolved to bring us significant opportunities. Before MAN Roland presented the DICOweb as a revolutionary new platform for printing in the new millennium, many customers asked me if the new technology was sheetfed or web-based and what plate format it was aimed at. Fact is our DICOweb is both sheet- as well as web-based, the format is variable and the technology runs without plates, re-imageable for shortest runs lengths. It’s an example of how we all need to think "out of the box" much more often, and that is more challenging than it seems. As to how we conduct ourselves within the confines of our sales call, we spend very little, if any, time talking about the competition. The printer brought us in because he has a problem that needs to be solved. So he wants us to focus on positive solutions, not negative comparisons. And as you can see from the length of this interview, MAN Roland has more than a few positive solutions to offer.