Manroland ExpoChina 2017 proves a big hit

Roadshow addresses key print industry challenges

The recently concluded Manroland Sheetfed Expo 2017 at Wuxi and Dongguan, which saw visitors in North, East and South China, participating in a range of activities highlighting the company’s innovative technologies and solutions, was universally acknowledged to be a great success.

At the Expo, Kurt Herrmann, Managing Director, Manroland Greater China, pointed out that Chinese printing companies were facing a severe test and that only robust enterprises with sound business fundamentals would be able to weather the storm:

"In the face of increasingly fierce market competition, printing companies must improve their own productivity and reliability and further enhance print quality, realizing product differentiation and controlling costs. As the best business partner of printers, Manroland Sheetfed provides a full range of premium printing solutions so customers can deal with all kinds of challenges.".

According to analysis by Manroland Sheetfed's Head of Sales Dr. Peter Conrady, the printing industry – both in the mainland and beyond – must address the key issues of rising energy costs, challenges to logistics & resources, shorter job runs, shorter lead times, lower prices, declining demand for commercial printing and limited reinvestment resources.

To work through all these challenges, Dr. Conrady emphasised the need for well-rounded battle plans tackling such issues as productivity, increased uptime, drop in cost of ownership and reduction of waste. Dr. Conrady underscored the importance of shorter make-ready times and enhanced production flow, infrastructure and processes.

Day One of the Expo included a seminar and a welcome dinner hosted by Manroland Sheetfed executives, while Day Two involved a forum, a tour of four exhibition showcases and visits to the facilities of Wuxi Hosun Printing Co Ltd and Wing Fat Printing Co Ltd where the advanced capabilities of Manroland Sheetfed printing equipment were demonstrated.

At a forum hosted by Ms. Wang Lijie, Deputy General Manager of Keyin Media Ltd and the Editor-in-Chief of Printing Technology, print buyers and Manroland Sheetfed personnel discussed four key topics: Standardization, Automation, Networking and Intelligence, exploring how the printing industry -- based around Industry 4.0 – could meet the new needs of users, markets and the new consumer era.

To address specific customer needs, Manroland Sheetfed set up four showcase areas for guests:

Sheetfed Area where experts from Manroland Sheetfed and related partners explained the advantages and capabilities of the ROLAND 700 EVOLUTION press and LED UV curing technology, as well as a variety of value-added printing solutions

Printservices Area with quality spare parts on display. Visitors were given a detailed understanding of the fast, efficient services offered by the Manroland Sheetfed team

Printnetwork and Color Management Area with onsite demonstrations of ColorPilot Smart, and how to achieve high efficiency standardization and digitalization

Printcom Area with Manroland’s latest Crystal filtration system demonstrated onsite - the company’s printing supplies experts answered questions about production and green printing.

To conclude the event, Manroland Sheetfed CEO, ,Rafael Peñuela, thanked his team for choosing a creative platform where success stories can be shared and industrial development trends discussed with customers in a relaxed and pleasant environment:

"We’re happy we were able to build on our friendship with our customers. Manroland Sheetfed has remained profitable for the five years since it joined the Langley Holdings group. We would like to thank our customers, especially those in Greater China, for their trust and support. We hope that through events like this Expo 2017, Manroland Sheetfed can help our customers become even more competitive and successful."

Manroland Expo 2017 also owes its success to Wuxi Hosun Printing Co. Ltd and Wing Fat Printing Co Ltd which opened their doors to their productions plants and shared their success stories with visitors.

Manroland introduces the latest market trends and solutions. Top left Rafael Penuela, CEO Manroland Sheetfed GmbH, Top right Kurt Herrmann, Managing Director, Manroland Greater China. 2nd row Dr. Peter Conrady, Head of Sales, Manroland Sheetfed GmbH and Jane Gu, Manroland China, Head of Marketing & Comunications Manroland China. Bottom row: Left: Roy Guo, Marketing Manager of Marketing & Communications Manroland China; Middle: Roy Xu, Head of Service & Spare Parts Manroland China, Right: Thomas Luk, Head of Printing Supplies Manroland China

The forum and show-case areas at the event were well attended by visitors from North, East and South China

About Manroland Sheetfed

Manroland Sheetfed GmbH is a leading German producer of sheetfed offset litho printing presses. Founded in 1871, the company is one of the oldest producers of printing presses in the world. Today the company has its own subsidiaries in over 40 countries and is a global watchword for supreme quality and reliability. Manroland Sheetfed GmbH is a wholly owned subsidiary of the privately owned UK engineering group, Langley Holdings plc.