Balance of production shifts to the East

The closure of Manroland Sheetfed may have little to do with the announcement that Friedheim has taken on the agency for a company supplying folders. But there is a common denominator: China. The loss of business in China is the major reason for the collapse of the venerable press maker, though arguably it should never have placed all its eggs in this basket and only belatedly decided to market its wares in its traditional markets. But for the first few years the strategy worked and nobody at the time said there was too much emphasis on this market, however great the opportunity,

But the Chinese market does not stand still. Its printers bought Manroland, Heidelberg and others because they wanted the best technology they could buy. And Chinese equipment was not up to the mark. Chinese producers woke up, starting with Masterwork producing platens that can stand toe to toe with anything from Bobst, both in terms of product and facilities. Others have taken note and are designing and making machinery that has the same ethos as Masterwork. Just as ‘Made in Japan’ once meant something cheap and poorly constructed and evolved into some of the best technology available, so China too is evolving.

Friedheim reckons it already has to the point that the Aoqi folder will be competitive in terms of technology and rather more than competitive in terms of cost. Chinese machines are already hugely successful in large format inkjet printing. Finishing equipment is the next port of call. At one time buying from China was a risk. The price was low, but so too was quality, support was non existent and few machines made any sort of impact. Those machines still exist, but so too do the machines that can stand alongside the best from the west. Ironically we may not see many of these in Europe simply because Asia and South America are the grower markets with better opportunities. But European manufacturers will feel the competition, as Manroland Sheetfed has discovered.