On the 5 & 6 November 2014, over 450 delegates attended the launch of the much anticipated new press from Manroland Sheetfed.

At the company's Print Technology Centre in Offenbach, Germany the ROLAND 700 EVOLUTION was unveiled to wide acclaim

With it's sleek and futuristic new look, the state-of-the-art EVOLUTION incorporates a raft of technological developments the company says will give printers unprecedented levels of efficiency, productivity, operation and quality.

The event drew delegates from as far afield as USA, Brazil, Australia, South Africa, Canada and the UK, together with most European countries.

Demand was so strong that the event had to be extended from one to two days.Even then applications to attend had to be closed with many interested parties disappointed. The company plans to run a series of seminars to show the new press early next year.

The EVOLUTION’s first pilot customer, Gerhard Aichhorn, owner and Managing Director of a leading Austrian print house, Samson Druck, gave guests a first-hand account of the new press:

“I have been a Manroland customer since 1992 for very good reasons. I have come to rely on their capability and I trust their tradition. This modern new interface is very intuitive for our printers and it is giving us excellent production.”

Rafael Peñuela, Manroland Sheetfed group's CEO, said that despite the old company's troubles in 2011, the new Manroland Sheetfed had been (albeit modestly) profitable in every year since and placed the new press firmly in the context of the company's tradition of industry-leading technology:

“Manroland has been known for its legendary technological development, from the first rapid press Albatross in 1875 to the launch of Direct Drive technology in 2007. Today I am proud to present another milestone in our long tradition of technological progress in the printing industry – the ROLAND 700 EVOLUTION.”