Ryobi and Mitsubishi: “We’re One Company” Ryobi Limited and MHI Printing & Packaging Machinery is now RMGT At its press conference Sunday, September 13, Ryobi MHI Graphic Technology (Booth 4213) announced a new logo and a rebranding of the company. While Ryobi Limited and MHI Printing & Packaging Machinery merged in 2014, with the company now calling itself RMGT, the company felt that there was lack of clarity in the marketplace about the merger. In a nutshell, RMGT wants people to know that it is one company and a player to be reckoned with. In fact, it has sold 30 new, straight-from-the-factory presses in the past 12 months. “We are the market leader in terms of offset presses,” said Kozac Takata, RMGT’s Manager of International Sales and Marketing. To get the message out, RMGT launched a new logo and rebranding regarding the merged company. It also defined the RMGT sales and service strategy for North America. Before the merger, Ryobi Limited and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries both had manufactured printing presses in Japan for more than 50 years. The new logo reinforces that they are now a single, integrated company. The red swirls remind the viewer of press cylinders rotating around one another. As part of the rebranding, a simplified product naming convention was also introduced: 3 Series, 5 Series, 7 Series, 9 Series, 10 Series, and 11 Series, referring to the number of colors on the press. RMGT has expanded its factory capacity to increase its ability to meet demand. RMGT is the only major press manufacturer running live presses at both GRAPH EXPO and IGAS. Chris Manley, President Graphco, one of six distributors that comprises Graphic Systems North America, explained the value of RMGT’s unusual distributor model. Instead of a centralized model in which presses are sold by a variety of distributors, RMGT’s model gives each of three distributors exclusive rights in their respective territories. RMGT’s authorized distributors in North America are Graphic Systems North America (GSNA), RM Machinery, and Suntek S.A. de C.V., based in Mexico. Mangement team of Metzgers (L to r): John Luscombe, Sales; Jim Restle, Prepress; Tom Metzger, President; Tony Metzger, Production Manager; and Todd Beringer, Sales. “We felt that the traditional model of a large, multinational company with sales reps all over the country would create a barrier between the manufacturer and its customers,” said Manley. “Collectively, we felt that distributors who have been in their territories for the past 30-40 years have a better handle on what clients need.” Manley also reflected the overall GSNA sense that the regional model helps with technical support and service. The press conference concluded with comments by Tom Metzger, President of Metzgers in Toledo, OH, which has two Mitsubishi D3000 series machines already on the floor, a four-color and six-color, and has taken possession of a new 10-color perfecting press, the RMGT 9210P with LED UV curing and inline coating. “I can’t believe the efficiencies and capabilities with this press,” said Metzger. “I watched a demo again this morning to be sure, and I couldn’t be more sure about a decision we’ve made in the past couple of years.” Epicomm Releases “State of the Industry” Report IPrinters are facing a radical change n its “State of the Industry Report, 13th edition,” Epicomm (Booth 861) deep-dived into the issues facing the printing industry and offered some straight talk at its press conference Sunday afternoon. The conclusion? Printers are facing a kind of radical change never before seen. Written by Andy Paparozzi, Epicomm Chief Economist, and made possible through funding by Canon, the report is based on data from a detailed mail survey and in-depth, confidential interviews with industry leaders. “Our industry is not just changing,” said Paparozzi. “It’s being completely transformed. Change used to be about getting better at things we already knew how to do. Now it’s about getting very good very quickly at things we’ve never had to do before.” The report covers overall economic conditions, which Paparozzi described as “painfully slow and maddenly inconsistent,” as well as growth, sales, and profitability expectations broken down by industry. But while slow, Paparozzi says growth is moving in a positive direction. Although only at 1.3% in the first half of 2015, down from 2.4% this time last year, “it is still progress.” Paparozzi discussed the continued consolidation of the industry, noting that while demand is still behind supply, too many printers are simply “not nimble enough” to keep up with the changes. The report covered more than 30 different services, “many of which would not even been considered part of our industry not too long ago. From SEO/ SEM, response management, database management, wide format, and 3D.” But with less differentiation between printers and so many woefully unprepared for transformational change, Paparozzi cautioned that consolidation alone will not solve the overcapacity problem. Paparozzi concluded with encouragement that there is still opportunity, and provided three keys to capturing it: • Hire experts before you add services far removed from your core • Integrate services because standalones will never be anything other than commodities • Show clients and prospects exactly how they will benefit from partnering with you “We are convinced of two things,” said Paparozzi. “First, absolutely nothing will be more important to sustained success in this industry than the ability — regardless of ownership structure or equipment configuration—to adapt quickly and efficiently to the change that is redefining our industry; and second, that rather than thinking of what is happening in the Darwinian sense of adapt or perish, we should think of it as adapt and thrive because the upheaval is creating historic opportunity to get involved earlier, stay involved longer, and satisfy a broader range of our clients’ communications needs.” More information on the “State of the Industry” report can be found at Epicomm’s Booth 861. Konica Minolta and Kodak Collaborate at GRAPH EXPO 15 Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. (Konica Minolta) (Booth 1913) is showcasing two KODAK (Booth 823) CREO Servers supporting bizhub digital presses at GRAPH EXPO 15. Konica Minolta’s recently announced bizhub PRESS C71hc will be driven by the IC-309 CREO Color Server, with updated color management functionality designed to take full advantage of the expanded gamut of the C71’s new High Chroma Toner. Showcased with the bizhub PRESS 2250P is the IC-312m controller, which utilizes the latest CREO Color Server architecture to achieve maximum performance and image quality. Together with the IC-309m, the CREO controllers continue as the only external front-end solution for Konica Minolta’s monochrome presses, providing a common workflow and user interface for customers with both color and monochrome printing requirements. The demonstrations will highlight how the collaboration enables a common workflow process regardless of the device’s color capabilities. “Our partnership with Konica Minolta continues to produce leading edge solutions for the commercial print and graphics communication markets,” says Manuel Corizo, Worldwide Director, Sales and Business Development for Print on Demand Systems, Kodak. “The IC-309 driving C71hc is the latest example of how the two companies have partnered to raise the bar on color and image quality.” Easy to learn and simple to operate, the CREO Servers offer full variable data print and complex imposition capabilities and job assembly support. Furthermore, this advanced solution for Transactional and TransPromo printing features fully bi-directional native IPDS and AFP support through the KODAK CREO Server optional TransPack. “We’re delighted to showcase the ongoing partnership between Kodak and Konica Minolta at Graph Expo 2014 through these latest joint developments,” says Kevin Kern, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. “With both color and monochrome support our customers will benefit from the features, architecture and productivity they’ve come to rely on with CREO Servers, regardless of their production environment.” 52 September 15, 2015 | GRAPH EXPO Official Show Daily | PrintingNews.com
GraphExpo Show Daily September 15 2015
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