Komori is exerting its control over subsidiary MBO by taking direct control over sales and service for the German made folders.
This will end a 54-year relationship between Friedheim International (previously Oscar Friedheim) which has represented MBO in the UK for all this time, since 1967. It has installed more than 1,000 folders across printers and trade finishers since then.
From 1 September Komori will be responsible for new sales and related service agreements for MBO and the large format H+H folders. Machines sold before then, even if delivered afterwards, can continue to be serviced by Friedheim. Friedheim can also continue to service and support existing customers.
The speed and the way the deal has been imposed as left a bitter taste for Friedheim. Lockdowns have meant there have been restrictions over foreign travel and while there was liaison between Komori UK and Friedheim to seek ways to mitigate the impact of the change through extending the handover period, this was then overruled by senior management.
Komori UK managing director Steve Turner says: “Friedheim has done a fantastic job for more than 50 years, developed and fantastic customer base and been well regarded in the market. Now we are looking forward to having representation for MBO and H+H products and are in the process of gearing up for that change.”
Komori officially acquired MBO in May last year and has decreed that where the press manufacturer has a directly owned subsidiary, this should take responsibility for MBO sales. This has already happened in France, and the UK is next in line. “I was informed three months ago by MBO that Komori had taken this decision,” says Friedheim managing director Mark Bristow. “MBO had expressed their objections but were overruled.”
He has written to customers to explain the change. “In my view it was also inappropriate and disrespectful to progress such a change at a time of the Covid pandemic and without consultation,” he says. “Customers do not need uncertainty at this time.”
There are around 500 live MBO machines in the UK, says Bristow, with the company selling 10-15 machines a year, down from a peak of 100 at the beginning of the 2000s.
Komori UK will hold a stock of spares in the UK with sales and support staff. Some will be recruited while others will be retrained to work on the folders, says Turner. “We are looking forward to the opportunity,” he says. “We expect that by the handover date we will have the structure in place so it is seamless for the customer and it will be business as usual.”
Because Friedheim’s staff work across product ranges and no one is tied specifically to MBO, there would appear to be no transfer of personnel to the press manufacturer. Bristow has stressed that Friedheim will continue to honour warranties and will support existing customers, either working with MBO’s support during any warranty period, or by providing parts from third-party suppliers for installed machines which can often provide greater flexibility on pricing.
Friedheim also has deep knowledge of both customers and machines in the market where a certain amount of interpretation is needed to identify parts that need replacement. “We will often get a call from a customer who does not know the specific reference for a part and we will identify this through a discussion with them and our knowledge of their operation and machinery.”
There is also the fundamental issue of market knowledge. Komori will know the majority of printers in the UK, even if it doesn’t have a live relationship with them. But it has not needed to know the country’s trade finishers, many of whom use MBO and constitute an important part of the user base.
Turner acknowledges this, explaining: “There are going to be companies using MBO where we don’t have a relationship, but we would we expect to develop that as we go into the future. There are a lot of companies that have MBOs who are not necessarily using a Komori. ”
Then there is the question of where an MBO folder is part of a larger deal, as part of a Hunkeler line for example, or with customers that are digital printers who also have no connection to Komori currently. Again Turner sees opportunities: “We will have inkjet, sheetfed litho, folding equipment and guillotines in the portfolio. It opens significant opportunities for us going forwards.”
Bristow says: “While this decision is clearly a disappointing one we have a knowledge, experience and standing built up over many years and our aim is to ensure that all our customers continue to benefit from the best service support that they know we can offer.”
