December 19, 2003 -- MAN Roland has taken the DICOpress and DICOpack, Xeikon OEM products, from its product range and is leaving the toner-based digital printing business. MAN Roland’s digital systems business unit will focus on its digital offset press, the DICOweb. MAN Roland's decision to further advance its own fully digital offset printing press means the company is taking advantage of industry trends towards smaller production runs at increased quality, lower costs, and improved performance. The DICOweb offers a completely integrated workflow from prepress and printing to the mailroom. And, despite the printing form being produced digitally, the DICOweb still remains an offset printing press. In contrast, the Xeikon OEM products MAN Roland has been selling up to now work with toner instead of ink. Toner-based systems are not part of MAN Roland's core business. Instead, they are currently used primarily by ad agencies, prepress shops, and copy shops. Established suppliers already exist in this distinctive market and are providing enough services to satisfy market needs. MAN Roland's global sales partners provide a versatile range of alternative products for image-one-print-one digital solutions. Three years ago MAN Roland took over sales in this market segment for three Xeikon products known as the DICOpress, DICOpack, and DICOpage. Developments in the DICOpage sheet printing system, however, were not achieved to the degree that allowed the system to establish itself in the market. DICOpage sales were therefore terminated about 18 months ago. In addition, planned versions of the DICOpack were never developed to completion. Also, the difficult and unsure business footing of Xeikon this year was not an insignificant factor in MAN Roland's decision. The now-complete separation, carried out on the part of Xeikon’s new owners, clarifies not only sales paths, but also the overall situation.