Westmont, Illinois — MAN Roland Inc. has launched a new website to automate the selection and purchasing of parts and consumables by commercial printers who rely on its sheetfed and web offset presses. Named manrolanddirect.com, the interactive portal connects MAN Roland customers with an inventory of over 80,000 spare parts and consumable components. The site went online last month for MAN Roland-equipped newspaper facilities, and is now accessible to any printer who runs a MAN Roland press. “MAN Roland has automated virtually every major aspect of printing production,” says Allen Pratt, Assistant Vice President, Parts & Supply Chain for MAN Roland Inc. “The next logical step is to automate the way our customers select and purchase their parts and consumables. Like our other automation initiatives, manrolanddirect.com will help them save time and money.” 24/7 Access As its name indicates, manrolanddirect.com can be accessed directly through any Internet connection. “Selecting and purchasing pressroom repair parts and consumables has never been easier,” Pratt explains. “Commercial printers operate well beyond the limits of a 9-to-5 day. With man.rolanddirect.com, they can order pressroom replacement parts anytime that’s most convenient for them.” manrolanddirect.com turns repair parts and consumables shopping into a clickable experience. MAN Roland press users need only visit the site to open their password-protected online account, giving them access to a virtual warehouse where they can browse a wide-ranging inventory of components — each tested and factory certified for their MAN Roland presses. Photographs of the products help parts shoppers visually confirm the accuracy of their selections, while a streamlined checkout procedure speeds purchasing. Printer Proven The commercial printers who were among the first to browse the website cited the above advantages and more while evaluating manrolanddirect.com. Glenda Owens, Parts/Purchasing Supervisor at Valassis Manufacturing in Durham, North Carolina is impressed by the site’s easy-to-use interface and graphics. Her company runs a fleet of LITHOMAN web presses. “It’s very easy to navigate and provides lots of good technical, spec, and manufacturers’ information on many parts,” she says. “Without a doubt I’ll be visiting manrolanddirect.com often.” United Graphics Inc. in Mattoon, Illinois operates 41-inch MAN Roland sheetfed presses. Dan Young, a key maintenance technician there, provided this preliminary analysis of manrolanddirect.com: “The ‘Rapid Reorder’ list is a definite plus. It is helpful to see the pictures, prices and availability, 24/7. I usually only order non-emergency parts once a week, so it is a plus to be able to put items in the shopping cart, then on Wednesday, actually generate the PO and place the order.” Gilbert Classen of the engineering department at Williamson Printing Corp. in Dallas says he will rely on manrolanddirect.com to keep his company’s two six-unit ROTOMAN web presses productive. “I think it’s a fantastic site,” he notes. “It’s clear MAN Roland has invested in good web design. I had no trouble navigating through to get to what I needed. “You don’t have to lookup a number to access your parts,” Classen adds. “And commonly used supply items are presented first. It shows that MAN Roland has researched what its customers want most, and has made the most popular supplies most accessible.” Clickable Choices manrolanddirect.com’s clickable interface lets visitors order by part number, by manufacturer or by description. The website’s database provides all the necessary information to ensure customers receive the exact consumables and components their press requires. A variety of shipping methods are available on the website. MAN Roland’s Chicago location offers O'Hare and Midway next-flight-out service, to accommodate rush service. Or users can choose from an array of more economical shipping methods to balance deadlines against budgets. MAN Roland customers are invited to visit the site for a test drive. “We encourage any one who runs a MAN Roland press to automate their parts and consumables purchasing with manrolanddirect.com,” Pratt declares.