July 10, 2001 – MAN Roland and Flint Ink North America have entered into a cooperative agreement intended to enhance the product and service offerings to North American customers of both companies. The two companies will work together to develop complementary technologies that will give printers the benefit of proven, turnkey options to improve quality and productivity in the press room. The North American alliance grew out of a cooperative agreement between the European operating groups of the two companies. MAN Roland distributes products manufactured by Flint Ink Europe to customers in selected countries. The new alliance is the latest in support of MAN Roland’s commitment to becoming a total solution provider, according to Yves Rogivue, CEO for MAN Roland’s North American operations. “We continually strive to improve our strong world position by focusing on long-term partnerships with best-in-class companies like Flint Ink, who play a critical role in the printing process. By doing so we can help our customers be successful in obtaining maximum productivity of their high-technology equipment,” he said. Added Kevin Oakes, Director of Business development for MAN Roland, “While our customers aren’t locked into working with our partners, we want to be able to recommend providers whose products have been tested and proven to work with our press systems. It’s just one way we can make their lives easier. These days, when time is often in such short supply, they can follow our recommendation and be confident of the viability of the choice.“ Noting that the synergy between ink and press is absolutely critical, Leonard Walle, Flint Ink Director of New Business Development, said that the ink and press alliance will give customers a source of complementary expertise to help them optimize their processes. “It will also give Flint Ink enhanced opportunities to explore new technology and test new products,” he continued. “Robust ink formulations cannot be created in a vacuum. They must work in concert with all of the other elements in the pressroom to optimize the total process, from prepress to end-user. Only by working with pressroom equipment providers such as MAN Roland can we accomplish that goal.” The first result of the alliance will be seen at Print ’01 in Chicago in September, where Flint Ink products will be used on presses running in the MAN Roland booth. Additionally, MAN Roland has provided a Roland 200 press to Flint Ink for use in live demonstrations of the company’s SFI™ Single Fluid Ink concept technology during the show. Further demonstrations of Flint Ink products running on MAN Roland’s presses will be held on location at MAN Roland’s “House of Excellence” Graphic Center in Westmont, Illinois. In addition to Flint Ink products, the Graphic Center showcases a complete digital workflow utilizing state-of-the-industry products such as Agfa’s Apogee PDF workflow, a Polaroid Polaproof, Afga’s Galileo CTP system, and MAN Roland’s fiber optic-based sheetfed printing presses.