Offset Printing
PrintforumMedienForum 2008
Tuesday 22. July 2008 - Gerd Finkbeiner motivates the industry at the Ismaning Forum
“The industry we work in is not critical but the perception of our industry is,” summarized Gerd Finkbeiner, CEO of manroland AG, at the PrintMedienForum 2008 held on 10 July in Ismaning near Munich. In his speech “Print Prospects 2020” given to decision-makers of the printing and media industry, Finkbeiner made it very clear: “The Cluster Initiative of The Free State of Bavaria is an indispensable component of our extensive activities along the way to a printing industry with bright long-term prospects.”
The successful drupa clearly underlined the vitality of the printing industry but also its structural changes. The continuing high importance of print is very evident – print media accounts for two-thirds of advertising revenues. Leading sellers of brand-name goods are increasing their print advertising budgets, direct-mail shots are booming, elaborately enhanced packaging is attracting buyers at the Point of Sale, and printed electronics is showing where the future lies for materials man-agement systems and brand protection. Still, the business environment for printing companies is not an easy one to work in: while the selling prices for print products are declining, the costs for paper, inks and energy are rising. This is why printing companies and press manufacturers are realigning their businesses. manroland AG supports its customers and resolutely follows its value-adding philosophies Applied Innovations (web presses) and Value Added Printing (sheetfed presses) for boosting production efficiency and product value.
Foster innovations – tread new paths
“The ongoing developments in printing technology demand new business models and also safeguard the strong market position of print products such as newspapers, supplements and packaging”, said Finkbeiner. Outstanding examples include the APL automated plate changing system for newspaper presses, the 96-page LITHOMAN for long run commercial web printing, and the DirectDrive system that dramatically reduces makeready time with sheetfed presses. Inline enhancement processes, particularly in the sheetfed sector, increase the value of print products. But still, they must not only be produced efficiently but the target groups must also be made aware of their value through economic reasoning and image-enhancing promotion. How do things look at present with “Print Prospects 2020”? The stagnation that can be seen in some industry segments must be resolved by product value and production efficiency. An important success factor here is also networking print marketing and research and development. Gerd Finkbeiner went on to say that: “All of this can be organized very well in the Cluster Initiative because not only jobs depend on this but also the competitiveness of printing companies and Print Prospects 2020 as well of course.”