The renowned university printers Hermann Schmidt in Mainz has changed brands after 50 years. Since autumn 2001, they have been using sheet-fed printing presses made by MAN Roland, the world’s largest manufacturer of printing machines. A five-colour and a six-colour ROLAND 700 were presented to clients and a circle of experts on the 02.02.02. Managing Partner Bertram Schmidt-Friedrichs explained the reasons behind the decision: “A change of system always carries with it a certain element of risk. However, in line with the demands being made by our printing house, optimisation of the print quality was of key importance”. In addition, profitability issues were also taken into consideration and the system’s open configuration was also a decisive factor. The company was able to integrate existing periphery technologies into the new printing system with almost no problems whatsoever. Schmidt-Friedrichs described the capital investment as an expression of the conviction towards the future-oriented strategy that the company is following in the highly competitive market. The printing house, which was founded in 1945, employs 45 staff and is regarded as a specialist for books, video tapes, art prints and posters. The company places a great deal of emphasis on the pre-press. For many years now, the printers have received national and international awards for their typographic achievements, including numerous accolades from the Art Directors Club Gernany.