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www.kba.com 1|2010 PRODUCTS|PRACTICES|PERSPECTIVES 36 Contents KBA Editorial 2 Sheetfed Rapida 106 presses for Zurich 3 Terminic, Germany: calendars for the world 4 A Costa Rican showcase 6 Cheaper kit can prove expensive 8 Flying job changes at Dutch printer Ten Brink 10 Netherlands’ Vis Offset perfects with Rapida 75 12 Rapida 75 at CL Print, Ireland 14 Rapida 105 for Gráfica Biblos in Peru 15 Enhancing productivity with DriveTronic SPC 16 Rapida 142 at Express, France 18 The courage to invest while others waver: delivered, installed, commissioned and started up in January this year – a new Rapida 106 eight-colour Powerful Rapidas in Italy 19 press with two coaters at Bernholz Verpackungen in Bad Salzuflen, Germany, where a Rapida 105 six-colour coater press that came on stream in 2000 has already pumped out 354 million sheets USA: Hanover Packaging’s eco profile… 20 …and 4D Printing’s Rapida 75 21 Enhancing efficiency Economic recovery depends on entrepreneurial courage with VariDryBLUE 22 UV printing on plastic packaging 24 Sustainability at Heider Druck 26 Investment key to innovation Vagner Graphic, France, takes Rapida 75 and 105 28 Web Offset he turbulence in the global fi- sions in the USA, in the UK and prospects, or a lack of entrepre- Brazil: Compacta 618 at nancial and economic market- T many other European economies neurial courage. Editora Abril 29 place has continued unabated for would be a great help, and there are Fortunately, however, there are Compacta duplex at almost eighteen months now, albeit tentative indications that the eco- exceptions. Farsighted printers and Editorial Primavera, Venezuela 30 with regional differences in inten- nomic situation in North America media players are making the most Slim-line Compacta 818 sity. While the number of more pos- may finally be starting to improve. of the current widespread paralysis for Italy’s D’Auria Printing 32 itive prognoses has increased, not When a crisis breaks, politicians in order to reposition themselves in Newspaper even the most revered economic are not the only ones who are readiness for the upturn, whenever experts are willing to prophesy with tempted to sit on their hands and that may occur. In pursuit of this Germany: Commander any degree of confidence whether hope for the best. Many of the de- strategy they are developing new satellites for Parzeller 34 Comet lands at Beijing Daily 35 2010 will bring a perceptible cisions and investments currently business models or enhancing ex- Automated plate logistics change for the better in current being made in the print media in- isting ones, more often than not in with KBA PlateTrans 36 trends or whether GDP figures for dustry and the wider economy conjunction with judicious invest- DB Group, India: the vast majority of national seem to be informed by the belief ment in advanced technology. The Prisma fleet in action 38 economies will fluctuate within a that “if you don’t do anything, you ultimate benefits are enjoyed by all, Comet brings colour to narrow band around zero growth can’t do anything wrong!” While in because in the long run the supply Sudan printer IGPP 40 from one quarter to the next. There some cases there may be little or no industry can only drive innovation is plenty of evidence to support choice, for example if there is a liq- if the customers targeted are will- UV Offset both scenarios. The scattered uidity bottleneck, the bank with- ing to invest. Examples of both can Genius 52UV for Onlineprinters 41 growth centres that do exist, such holds credit lines or business has be found throughout this issue of First Genius 52UV in Switzerland 42 as China, for example, cannot re- collapsed, this sentiment is more Report. Genius cuts emissions at Fishprint, Australia 43 vive the global economy on their often prompted by a persistent loss Klaus Schmidt own. An end to the ongoing reces- of confidence in future growth [email protected] Shorts 44 Editorial State aid distorts competition and harms the print media industry Bloated structures should not be preserved Helge Hansen, president and CEO, Koenig & Bauer The global economic recession precipitated by the turmoil in financial mar- Following a dramatic decline in sales from September 2008 to April kets has persisted for eighteen months now. In the print media and supply 2009, demand for printing presses has been relatively stable since early industries, both of which are heavily exposed to advertising cycles, its with- last summer, albeit at a much lower level than in 2005 or 2006. While ering impact on order volumes and balance sheets has been greater than many countries are experiencing a mild upturn, we believe this will trans- in almost any other business sector. Following decades of outstanding suc- late into no more than a modest lift in market demand, not a sustained re- cess in the international arena, 2009 brought reports from major German covery. press manufacturers of plunging sales, heavy losses, short-time work, im- We are therefore all the more delighted to report that in this volatile pending mergers and the loss of thousands of jobs, overshadowing the en- market environment we posted Group sales last year of €1.1bn and thus tire industry. closely approached the target we had set. In view of the current state of KBA did not escape a painful yet economically imperative adjustment the print media industry the balanced pre-tax result we anticipate is some of the core workforce. In the 2009 business year Group sales plunged by achievement. We were helped by the fact that throughout the crisis we 31 per cent and the Group payroll dropped below 7,000. By the end of have maintained our liquidity with no new bank loans and have not had to the current year it will have fallen by several hundred more. The situation take up the credit lines previously secured as a precaution. While we have at our competitors is much the same: when sales collapse and market responded to market pressures by downsizing over the past two years, KBA prospects are poor, there is simply no viable alternative to a rapid and rad- remains a solidly financed, stable and innovative partner to the print media ical realignment. A merger within the industry would not have mitigated industry. the need to downsize capacity and payrolls in response to a diminished There is absolutely no truth in the rumours currently circulating in the market volume. market that we are planning to withdraw from press technology in order For all those involved, such an adjustment inflicts both personal and fi- to focus on new business lines. What is true is that, 193 years after the nancial pain. It is therefore important to ensure that the conditions under company was founded by the inventor of the printing press, we are ex- which it is implemented are equal for all players. Unfortunately, the mis- panding from our core business into other markets. Industry insiders fore- givings we expressed last summer following the extension of substantial see limited growth prospects for print in today’s media landscape, and state aid to one of our biggest competitors appear to have been justified. exceptions such as packaging merely serve to prove the rule. While KBA According to information we have received, the additional financial scope has a much broader base in the print market than other press manufac- afforded by public credit lines and guarantees is being used to offer ex- turers, it makes sound business sense to establish a firm foothold in a dif- cessive discounts on prices and other conditions of supply in order to ferent sector. With this move we are seeking to counteract cyclical empty overflowing warehouses and create liquidity. Bloated organisational fluctuations in the press market and safeguard our existing plants by ex- structures that are no longer appropriate for today’s markets are thus being ploiting their earnings and development potential in the medium term. preserved, nullifying the impact of successful efforts elsewhere in the in- KBA is fortunate enough to have the necessary room for manoeuvre. This dustry to trim fat and cut costs. is not the case everywhere. This is detrimental both to the print media industry and its suppliers. 2010 will bring fresh challenges for us all. However, a crisis also rep- The decline in prices of new presses is undermining the market value of resents an opportunity to review and realign established structures and existing equipment, which is often offered by printers as security when processes. We wish you and your respective companies every success in seeking a loan for new investments. As if securing funds were not difficult squaring up to these challenges. It is in the nature of economics that a re- enough already, many a printer’s pleasure at obtaining a bargain price for cession is always followed by a recovery. Let us hope that this will arrive a new press is wiped out upon finding that his bank or accountant has val- soon and prove to be a vigorous one for print. ued his assets at bargain prices as well. Yours, 2 Report 36 | 2010 Two views of the press room: on the left the Rapida 106 six-colour press with a perfector after the second printing unit, dedicated plate-cylinder drives and a coater, on the right the consoles for the two presses with the DensiTronic desk in between Comprinta opens new printing centre in Zurich with two Rapida 106 press lines Focus on quality and sustainability On 1 January a new sheetfed commercial printing plant went live in Zurich-Schwerzenbach at Comprinta, the product of an alliance among three Swiss enterprises: Neidhart + Schön Group, Druckerei Feldegg and Bühler Druck.