Werner Schneider, the administrator appointed when manroland hit the rocks in November 2011, said that after intense negotiations, particularly in the last few weeks, a sale had not eventuated

Plauen was the third of manroland’s manufacturing sites, and supplied both the other two with parts. The two sites in Offenbach (sheetfed) and Augsberg (webfed) were sold to Langley Holdings and Possehl Group respectively in January last year. The orginal plan was for Plauen to supply parts for both sites and to third parties.

Schneider had slashed the workforce at Plauen from 800 down to 250, but all these jobs will now go. Schneider cited over-capacity and deteriorating economics in the print industry as reasons for the demise of Plauen.

The closure at Plauen brings to an end a turbulent period in the near 200 year history of manroland, which has resulted in the two separate companies being formed – manroland Web Systems and manroland Sheetfed – after a €55m cash injection from the German government prevented it for going under last December.

The two new companies have a combined workforce of around a third that of manroland at its peak, with both new owners bullish about their future prospects in their new slimline form.

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