New trends in investment in China's printing press industry
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In order to survive the difficult period of economic recession, many printing machinery manufacturers have implemented a comprehensive cost reduction plan. However, the investment in the R&D department has not been weakened in the budget plans of some major international printing machinery manufacturers. They believe that only strengthening research and development can make the company achieve long-term development and maintain its dominant position in the printing machinery market. How are their R&D funds used?
Reduce the scale of product demonstrations
Affected by the international financial crisis, many international printing press manufacturers are more or less under financial pressure.
Heidelberg CEO Bernard Schnell has said that the 2008-2009 fiscal year was the "worst year" since the company's 150-year-old establishment, and the annual order volume has dropped by 20%.
Manroland’s sales in 2008 fell 11% from 2007, while operating profit fell 58%; KBA’s pre-tax loss in 2008 was 77.7 million pounds, and sales fell 10.1% from 2007. As a result, some printing machinery manufacturers have had to cut labor costs and scale down product demonstrations.
However, feedback indicates that even in the context of the international financial crisis, printing machinery manufacturers have maintained capital investment in research and development. If it is not the printing machinery manufacturer's long-term investment in research and development activities, various printing exhibitions like Drupa will be very tedious.
Pay attention to investment in innovation
“For us, innovation is an important means of differentiation in the market, and R&D investment is very important,” said Kristen Napp, general manager of KBA UK. He said that they will focus on the fastest-return investment areas when they have no choice.
Marcus Lal, a member of Manroland's sheetfed board, said Manroland continues to strengthen research and development. “Our investment in scientific research is basically the same as before the international financial crisis. Of course, in the case of declining sales, the budgets of all departments of the company must be adjusted, including the R&D department. What is important is that resources should be used. In key areas."
Of course, the money invested in this particular area is not a slap in the face. According to a spokesperson for Heidelberg, the company spent about 800 million euros on new product development and innovation from 2004 to 2008. This figure is twice or three times that of the company's strong competitors. It is 150 million euros, down 5 million euros year on year. The spokesperson added that the international financial crisis has had a major impact on the company, they have implemented cost reduction measures, but in order to maintain the company's market leading position, they will continue to pay attention to investment in innovation.
Improve equipment automation
How is this fund used? For Heidelberg, they will be doing both hardware and software development, improving equipment automation, reducing production lead times, and improving workflow. The company is always looking at the ultra-wide market and has set its sights on the packaging sector. A Heidelberg spokesperson said that the company is customer-oriented, listens to the market voice, customers need higher productivity and shorter production preparation time, the company strengthens these aspects of research and development.
These seem to be the areas where most sheetfed press manufacturers concentrate on development. Manroland's Lal said that their company "mainly focuses on improving product efficiency and productivity." He said that some of the company's products have already achieved results in automation, such as changing plates and improving color control. He said: "In order to make printing faster and cheaper, we have also invested in innovation in simplifying the operation of the printing press. Although the printing machine performance in the German or British market is excellent, it may not be the case in other countries. In terms of machine, all that is needed is to press the button. If the automation and workflow are used correctly, it can increase the added value of printing and form a technical and economic advantage."
KBA also strengthens technology development to reduce its lead time. Nap pointed out that in 2004, the company launched a digital control press. Four years later, this machine has been significantly improved, and automatic version change has been realized.
Focus on shortening print preparation time
Reducing print preparation time is an important part of the R&D team. Whether it is Heidelberg, Manroland or KBA and Komori equipment, it is possible to complete 6 revisions in two minutes. This is another example of a change in R&D ideas. Increasing the speed of printing is almost no longer as important as shortening the preparation time.
KBA’s Nap said that the problem is no longer to increase printing speed. “The speed of reaching 18,000 or 20,000 sheets per hour is no longer the key. The key is the speed of printing preparation.”
In this regard, Manroland's Lal also said that when it comes to faster printing presses, Manroland's machines can reach 18,000 sheets per hour, but the printing speed is only a factor in the complex production process, and the main challenge is To achieve more efficiency and more value. Technological innovation is the only basis for achieving these goals. The company has improved direct drive technology and inline cold foiling.
For KBA, a lot of development work is on the web rotary press, and the R&D department is also working hard to apply the automatic plate changing technology to the sheetfed press. It is understood that online automatic plate change has always been the direction of KBA efforts.
Napp said that some of the developed models have already been put on the market, but there are still some ideas that have only been tested and failed to convert them into products for market. The Heidelberg company's research and development market is not the same, Heidelberg spokesman said that the company's product development must be invested in the market. He believes that their research and development is for the needs of customers.
India's demand determines the research and development goals
“How to achieve faster and lower cost production and increase production efficiency?” “How to improve value and quality?” “Which application technologies can the company provide to grow customers' businesses?” In addition, printing companies require efficient and efficient production processes. And environmental protection. But in the end, reducing costs and increasing revenues have become the most important factor.
These problems raised by printing companies have driven the R&D department of printing machinery manufacturers to pursue higher goals. At present, major printing machinery manufacturers rely more on the R&D department to continuously strengthen their own strengths in order to finally get out of the international financial crisis.