Offset Printing
An emerging nation
Friday 18. April 2008 - Vietnamese printing industry invests in kit for Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City
On the bustling streets of Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City there is no evidence of the devastating war that ended in 1974. Vietnam is back to “business as usual” – and that business is booming as the country draws on its many inherent strengths. Profiting from a thriving economy, the Vietnamese printing industry is investing as never before, gearing up to Western standards.
In a country that is still predominantly agricultural, most industry and trade, and thus the print media as well, are concentrated in the business centres of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. However, there are signs of movement in the market. Where previously museum-piece newspaper web presses and one- or two-colour sheetfed presses prevailed, more modern equipment is now being installed. Since establishing a presence in Vietnam four years ago through intermediary Corvet Asia, KBA has expanded its activities from niche markets like security printing to commercial and packaging printing.
Security printing: Rapida 74 UV press at the Ministry of Public Security
A Rapida 74 with UV capability went into operation at the Ministry of Public Security in Hanoi back in 2005. Personal identity cards, passports and driving licences for Vietnam’s 82 million inhabitants are printed on this four-colour press using both conventional and UV inks. In view of the country’s high birth rate and increasing motorisation, the workload is soaring.
Three years on, Colonel B A Nguyen Le Vinh, head of the state’s General Department of Techniques, and Thai Minh Anh, a qualified engineer and director of the Center of Security Document Techniques set up in 1968, are still delighted with the KBA press, which in the screening process came out well ahead of rival products from Japanese and European competitors.
“The Rapida 74 UV press delivers an outstanding level of production flexibility, performance and quality,” says Colonel Le Vinh. “The support provided by KBA and its local agency during project planning, commissioning and training was equally outstanding. We print security documents, so we simply cannot afford to compromise on quality.” Mr Anh agrees: “The Rapida 74 UV runs smoothly and with absolute precision. Our staff were trained in Radebeul and had no trouble handling such a user-friendly press. Soon, with assistance from KBA, we’ll be tackling fresh challenges that include printing electronic passports.”
Commercial printing: Rapida 105 universal at Vinadataxa Corporation
Vinadataxa Corporation, which added a four-colour Rapida 105 universal to its press fleet in June 2007, was established in 1945 and is owned by the Vietnam News Agency, the country’s premier printer of newspapers and commercials. The Vietnam News Agency has production plants in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
Vinadataxa’s sheetfed division employs 150 staff and has 6,300m² (67,800ft²) of production space at its disposal. A newspaper web press and six sheetfed presses pump out newspapers, books, magazines, catalogues and brochures in run lengths ranging from 10,000 to one million copies. The Rapida 105 universal is the company’s first four-colour press and in terms of output, versatility and quality is in a totally different league from the other sheetfed presses, which are all two-colour versions.
Director Pham Mai Thuong and her production manager Hoang Lan Huong both studied printing technology in Germany and have several years’ experience with sheetfed offset presses from KBA Radebeul. The two women first saw the Rapida 105 universal at the Gulf Print show in Dubai. Says vice-director Duong Van Trung: “The impressive support provided by KBA’s factory in Germany and its agency in Vietnam strengthened our preference for KBA technology. With the Rapida 105 universal we have seen an enormous improvement in output, quality and makeready.”
Packaging printing: Rapida 105 universal at Thu Do JSC
For a typical example of the dynamic growth currently being experienced by the Vietnamese printing industry, look no further than the Thu Do Development Construction Investment Joint Stock Company (Thu Do JSC). Founded just last year, the company is implementing an awesome $22 million investment package with the declared objective of moving up among the leaders in Vietnam’s packaging industry. Capacity at Thu Do’s production plant in Quang Minh industrial park near Hanoi international airport will be expanded in three stages.
Director Tran Dinh Dung and his deputy Ngo Xuan Binh have chosen KBA press technology as the tools for realising their ambitious plans. A Rapida 105 universal five-colour press installed last year is operated in two shifts, 14 hours a day, and this will soon be extended to three shifts and 24-hour production.
Tran Dinh Dung used to work with a Rapida 104 five-colour coater press at Pakexim, a state enterprise, and has no doubts that its successor, the Rapida 105, is the right press for the job. Even back in 1996, when the 104 was installed, its productivity and quality were an eye opener: “KBA presses can be made ready in a minimum of time, are fast, reliable and exceptionally flexible. The new model is even more efficient and user-friendly. No matter what substrate we print, the results are consistently outstanding. We have great plans for the future and, with KBA’s support, are aiming to add presses with coating, UV and hybrid capabilities. KBA’s technological pre-eminence in packaging, together with the exemplary service back-up provided by Corvet and KBA Asia Pacific, give us a feeling of great confidence.”
As Vietnamese printers look to equip themselves for future growth, Corvet Asia, in association with KBA, is planning to provide practical support in the shape of open house promotions in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.