Customers keen to find out more about upgrade offers and new technologies such as the COLORMAN e:line 45

It’s clear that the German capital was worth visiting for manroland web systems and print experts worldwide, as seen from the recently concluded  World Publishing Expo (WPE) in Berlin (October 7-9, 2013). Media entrepreneurs, publishers and print experts caught up on the latest technologies and service products offered by the world market leader in web offset printing.

At the press conference, manroland web systems created an excellent impression with the announcement of a new level of service for the future. manroland web systems GmbH, traditionally well-established in the service area, and S.E.M. Servicegesellschaft für Elektrik und Mechanik GmbH will collaborate in the German-speaking countries. The contracts were signed at the World Publishing Expo. Eckhard Hoerner-Marass, Managing Director of manroland web systems, described the main advantage for customers at the press conference: Customers choose a single contact person from two strong companies and receive double the expertise, including S.E.M.’s decades of service experience and manroland web systems’ highly specialized know-how.

Upgrades for new business models
The cooperation with SEM fits into manroland web systems’ new, proactive service structure. Visitors got in-depth information about the product line containing press.update, classic.service, and print.competence. The communications fair WPE is ideal for meetings of this kind, both for establishing market needs directly as well as for discussing manroland web systems’ service spectrum in detail, such as the “three-around concept”. With the three-around update, a newspaper printing system can achieve the more convenient broadsheet format (similar to tabloid pages) and a higher number of copies, without narrowing down the press system’s actual technical layout.

Technical innovations: newspaper systems
Permanent improvements, retrofits, and upgrades of printing presses are commonplace today, and crucial to maintaining a competitive edge. The new operating system in newspaper and commercial printing has been very successful for manroland web systems with 24 systems sold worldwide since drupa 2012. Of course, this also applies especially to the very latest in newspaper presses and technology: the newly launched CROMOMAN 4-1 and the highly automated COLORMAN e:line system, which was recently sold to another customer on the German market, as Eckhard Hoerner Marass announced at the trade fair. The COLORMAN e:line 50 is known as a premium system for high-volume printing. With 100,000 copies an hour, it is the fastest newspaper press in its class, offering top printing quality and outstanding automation. The new COLORMAN e:line 45 is ideal for medium-sized print runs and features excellent printing quality combined with automation tailored to customers’ requirements. Having proved successful in India, the flexible and compact CROMOMAN 4-1 now offers even greater flexibility and more substantial profits for users around the world. Its larger web width of 1600 mm makes it the most flexible 8-page press worldwide and an attractive option for markets with larger newspaper formats and a wide range of production hall dimensions.

manroland web systems: Ideally positioned for industrial digital solutions 
manroland web systems’ industrial postpress systems and workflow solutions in digital newspaper and commercial printing piqued the customers’ curiosity. The web-offset specialists have integrated their comprehensive experience into the FoldLine for digital newspaper production and the book block solution FormerLine, as well as efficient production processes and integrative solutions situated between the printing unit and the postpress. Recently, more and more customers, such as the Chinese Hucais Group, have recognized this with their latest purchases. These projects are an ideal platform for manroland web systems to prove its digital capacity and to establish itself in this market.

Current and future professionals come to visit
Updates, new technology – investors today have a business model in mind and are also interested in the ideas of other market participants. Accordingly, visits to the Axel Springer company at the Spandau printing house organized by manroland web systems proved to be very popular with customers and experts. This is one of the locations where integrated inkjet technology helps to realize the Bild newspaper’s new business model. The inkjet code functions as a day pass to access the additional news coverage on the “bild.de” website. manroland web system’s evening with customers in the “Story of Berlin” museum complex was equally impressive. Standing between fragments of the Berlin Wall, the ice was quickly broken among the attendees. Of course, a trade fair is always an ideal point of contact for future professionals. Among others, a group of students from the HMKW Berlin (Hochschule für Medien, Kommunikation und Wirtschaft) visited manroland web systems’ booth and asked about the automation features and new operating system with ControlCenter. Even as digital natives, the students were clearly impressed, no doubt about it!