The new manroland Print Technology Center Augsburg, PTC for short, is the leading web offset test track. Concentrated know-how makes the PTC a think tank and catalyst for ideas that point the way forward. Here printers today test the possibilities of tomorrow.

Together with customers, associates, and the trade press, Paul Steidle, Executive Board Member Webfed Printing Systems at manroland, officially opened the new Print Technology Center Augsburg. This advancement and development center for newspaper and commercial web offset printing offers linked training courses for all aspects of web offset. More than 1000 customers and partners come to Augsburg every year to participate in training courses, PraxisSeminars, and PraxisDialogs. In order to create optimal conditions for these activities, a time-honored hall on the Augsburg factory premises was converted over the past few months into a Print Technology Center. At the end of the 19th century, this hall housed the turning shop of the August Riedinger engineering works, a secret ammunition factory during the Second World War. At the end of the war it was used as an assembly hall for Poly automatic presses and in more recent times as a testing site.

A well thought out training program
Paul Steidle: "The PTC Augsburg is an investment in the future of web offset. The market demands ever more complex solutions from press manufacturers for workflow optimization. Groundbreaking system solutions and highly-trained staff provide a printing company with decisive advantages in the marketplace." The PTC offers training under practical conditions. The program is primarily aimed at all printing company staff who are directly or indirectly involved with presses. The three-step training program – basic training, in-depth training and advanced workshop – covers all areas. For the practical training sessions a COLORMAN, XXL with APL and APL logistics and ultramodern control console technology is available, along with a heatset printing system and a complete prepress department for newspaper and commercial web offset printing. The PTC Augsburg also offers special management training courses and PraxisSeminar or PraxisDialog events for management personnel.

Emphasis on R&D
In the Print Technology Center practically-minded people can find the ideal conditions to optimize all areas of their printing companies. From development to marketability, from prepress to postpress, and from printnet Publishing Workflow to printnet Commercial Workflow, the PTC offers extensive research and development that links all disciplines: electronics, mechanics, printing and process technology, spare parts and wear parts, control console and prepress.
In the printcom laboratory, experts convey the latest technical findings for inks, dampening solution and types of paper. Coordinated process components form the basis for outstanding print results and sustained production cost reduction. Working together with manroland experts, trainees develop new solutions for web offset printing. So ideas and concepts can be thoroughly tested, further developed and made marketable.