We can thank Heidelberger Druckmaschinen for putting digital-offset partnerships on the agenda. It all started last March when the Big German confirmed it was talking to potential partners to sell a digital solution in 170 countries – a ‘killer’ press that will push other digital vendors’ offerings into the shade. Since then, the movement snowballed across all the major German press makers, with KBA having just announced a tie-up with US printing giant RR Donnelley in March 2011.
In fact, there are two different trends. The first is the kind of top-level R&D pairings that KBA has promised with RRD (see box, overleaf). Many expect something similar to come out of Heidelberg’s global deal with Ricoh.
The other approach is one we have already seen: a straightforward sales partnership. Australian printers were one of the first groups of customers to try out this new hybrid distribution channel after Heidelberg ANZ signed a deal with Konica Minolta to sell a number of the Japanese vendor’s digital production machines.
But do printers in Australia want to buy their digital kit from an offset supplier? For Steve Bujeia, general manager of NSW commercial house Lionheart Offset, the answer is a resounding yes. Meanwhile, at the big end of town, Geon is also weighing the pros and cons. Print shops like Lionheart and Geon – and a host of businesses in diverse shapes and sizes – will be now be keeping a close eye on the global pair-ups between offset and digital vendors. Heidelberg’s global aim with digital is akin to its existing strategy for offset: to be the one-stop shop for its customer’s needs.
For those in the game longer than a decade, it’s déjà vu. Heidelberg was a digital contender in the late ’90s and early 2000s, through its NexPress venture with Kodak. Before that, Heidelberg had been offering its Presstek DI technology.
Now the German giant is back in the digital world, and in a big way. Also on the sales side, Heidelberg USA has teamed with EFI to distribute its wide-format inkjet range in the States.
There is no immediate prospect of similar nuptials in this region, according to EFI’s south-east Asia manager Anthony Parnemann, though he says vendor alliances that bridge the technology gulf are a great bonus for printers.
“It’s a good thing because in such a case, primarily the offset vendor ‘owns’ the relationship with the printer, and some of those relationships are quite strong. They trust the advice of their offset vendor. Whether that vendor has all the resources and people to fulfil the promises is another matter, and that’s where the offset supplier calls on [digital] people like us. That’s partly why the Heidelberg USA deal went ahead. Offset printers are not only embracing digital production equipment, but superwide inkjet, point-of-sale and package printing equipment,” he says.
The reason vendors pool resources in joint distribution deals are obvious. Digital sellers have the product of the moment: flexible, versatile, compatible with multimedia. Litho companies have the customers, the databases, the reach. They make formidable allies. The risk of putting the blinkers on and doing what they’ve always done is clear. So yes, this is all good for the supplier.
But what about the customer? What benefits are there for printers to buy their digital kit from an offset vendor?
Alastair Hadley, Heidelberg ANZ’s general manager, sales and marketing, sees positive advantages for both offset printers looking at digital and digital printers seeking to expand into offset.
A mixed technology vendor “knows the cut-off points”, he says; the efficiencies on both sides of the offset-digital divide. “We know the right product to fit the bill, whereas if you’re a one-product vendor, then you’ll push your own process.”
The relationship with the vendor can be a key difference on how much success a printer gets from a product, he says. Printers who are offset and digital have the advantage of dealing with a company that has expertise in both technologies.
It’s been around a year since Heidelberg ANZ inked a deal with Konica Minolta to distribute the digital manufacturer’s products in Australia. The sales agreement covers Konica’s production machines, the Bizhub Press C6000, C7000 and, new to this market, the C8000, alongside the B&W 1051 and 1200. Konica continues to carry out training, installation and service support through its six state offices and regional dealers.
Heidelberg’s role is to sell to its far-reaching customer base of offset printers, says Hadley. “As Heidelberg Australia, we’re not talking to digital standalone businesses. But if you’re a digital printer now, and you’re looking to expanding to also incorporate offset, you have a choice who you go to, Heidelberg or Konica Minolta. It’s up to you.
“There are two parts, the printing and the finishing. Whether you’re printing digitally or offset, you still have the finishing processes to look at, and Heidelberg can give better guidance on that to the offset market than most digital providers.”
Hadley reports strong progress on the Konica deal. It is ahead of its sales target, and has installed Konica products in four states. “The reception from customers has been very good, and it puts the onus on us to meet customers’ expectations.”
Konica Minolta national marketing manager David Procter says that while early C8000 sales came from Konica Minolta customers seeking to upgrade, an increasing ratio of the 40-machine installed base has been from Heidelberg’s client list. “The agreement has exceeded expectations. There’s been plenty of learning, development and understanding between the partners.”
Lionheart Offset is a Heidelberg customer who was introduced to Konica equipment by the offset vendor. General manager Steve Bujeia wanted to go digital because the Banksmeadow, NSW-based family business was losing money by running extremely short jobs – under 1,000 impressions – on a four-colour Speedmaster SM 52, or losing work to a rival because even the minimal charge quoted to the customer, factoring in set-up and makeready, was not competitive.
Consulting with Heidelberg on the price differentials between printing offset and digital, he invested in a Konica C6000 colour machine. The digital press is being used for low-volume quick turnarounds, such as brochures, booklets and flyers.
Bujeia says: “Heidelberg has trialled and tested a lot of digital equipment out there, so I look up to their recommendations. They’re pretty good in the sense that we can talk both languages, offset and digital.”
Under the partnership agreement, Konica Minolta continues to service the C6000, but it is to Heidelberg that Bujeia turns when he needs expert guidance on the cost/benefits of litho and digital printing.
At the big end of town, Geon is also a target for Heidelberg under its KM banner. But Sam Carter, digital business development, northern region, tells ProPrint that the trans-Tasman behemoth has not made any decisions. Yet if its thinking is any guide, such a move is not out of the question; in the past, it has weighed the prospect of buying Canon equipment through Ferrostaal.
Ferrostaal Australia used to sell Manroland presses and Canon digital presses but its focus has changed as the two agencies moved on. Rayne Simpson, general manager of print finishing, says regardless of this, the principle of hybrid efficiencies across the offset-digital divide still applies.
While it no longer promotes digital, it is an agent for Komori. The initial “digital printing” objective for Ferrostaal Australia was to provide customers with a single point of contact for supply and service for digital and offset presses. The focus changed about 12 months ago to be “digital printing independent”, says Simpson, with an emphasis instead on providing finishing equipment specifically suited to the digital printing market.
Simpson says: “The future for suppliers such as Ferrostaal is to provide added value, assisting printers in their quest to have a more efficient operation and, in turn, increased profit. The great advantage for the printer will be this vendor independence.”
To support this digital finishing initiative, Morgana has appointed Andy Cooper as its general manager, print finishing for Australia and New Zealand. The partnership agreement also ensures the sales and support teams receive factory-based training from Morgana.
Manroland Australasia’s managing director, Steve Dunwell, underscores the magic of hybrid vendor partnerships – it’s not just that one school can sell the other’s technology, but that it can marshal its strengths to the other side’s requirements.
Dunwell recently visited Océ in Europe to get briefed on the Dutch vendor’s agreement with Manroland, under which Manroland will sell Océ’s range of continuous-feed inkjet presses. The deal is to be implemented in Australia in the first half of this year, covering local sales of JetStream and ColorStream.
The alliance is committed to joint R&D, and the first fruits will be a dedicated folding system for these inkjet products, developed by Manroland, which will be sold and serviced by its Australian arm. “It’s Océ’s technology in the print engine and it can be our technology on the folder.”
Océ Australia managing director Simon Wheeler says his company has decades of experience in system integration, workflow management and high-performance data printing. “To ally this with Manroland’s unparalleled experience in offset printing and, particularly, in finishing processes, will be to the advantage of both companies.”
Many of the toner-based digital manufacturers have now found an offset dance partner, but the world’s biggest xerography company is still flying solo when it comes to this level of pairing.
Fuji Xerox is 75% owned by Fujifilm and partners with the offset pre-press vendor on solutions to the market. And over the years, it has held “broad associations” with other suppliers, says Simon Lane, national manager for graphic communications. But as a digital manufacturer with the kind of reach and scale of service and support that others lack, Fuji Xerox Australia is in a position to sound the caveats about buying digital kit through an offset vendor.
Lane says printers should ask several questions. “If I was a customer, I would want to be convinced that my offset supplier has the appropriate service level agreements in place with its digital partner to meet my requirements. I would be asking questions about who services the equipment, how parts are distributed and the other sorts of information relevant to making an informed purchasing decision. For example, what happens if the partnership dissolves during my contract? Who will maintain the service agreement? How will I access the consumables?”
Milestones: offset-digital
1990 Heidelberg uses Presstek’s DI technology on its GTO presses and later develops the Quickmaster DI brand
1993 Agfa Chromapress, built on the Xeikon print engine, premieres at Ipex
1998 Screen introduces the TruePress DI, using Presstek onboard plate technology derived from its partnership with Sakurai
2000 Manroland introduces the digital DICOweb at Drupa
2000 Manroland markets Xeikon presses
2001 Heidelberg and Kodak jointly develop NexPress. This is later acquired wholly by Kodak after Heidelberg withdraws from manufacturing digital presses
2001 KBA and Presstek develop 46 Karat DI digital press
2004 Agfa acquires Dotrix, develops Dot Factory technology
2009 Heidelberg Australia sells Konica Minolta’s Bizhub range
2009 Ferrostaal Australia signs reseller agreement with Canon. It now no longer sells digital presses
2010 Heidelberg USA sells EFI printers
2010 Manroland sells Océ Jetstreams and Colorstreams
2011 Heidelberg announces tie-up with Ricoh
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