WE MET MIRKO KERN the CEO of Manroland Sheetfed at the company’s stand at Printpack2025 in Greater Noida on 1 February. It was the first day of the exhibition and the day for India’s finance minister to present the budget in parliament. In the main, Kern spoke with confidence about Manroland Sheetfed’s focus, its recovery and gradual traction in the Indian market, and its single-minded focus on sheetfed offset presses.
Naresh Khanna, editor of IPP & PSA – With Manroland Sheetfed’s strong comeback in India what are you hoping to achieve in what may be described as stage two of the company here?
Mirko Kern, CEO of Manroland Sheetfed – Our focus not only in India but everywhere in the world is the 700 and the size 6, 7, and 8 – the 700 and 900 format presses. We are presenting our sheetfed B1 offset press and the larger presses with advanced and full automation and that is our focus. Ultimately with the high pricing of fully loaded machines, you have to take a call on how much automation you need.
You can have a basic model or full automation with simultaneous plate loading and all the other options. You can have a lower or higher price but ultimately you have to look at how much you want to invest. However, you have to look at the cost over the life of the press which means its total cost including productivity, reliability, the cost of service, and spare parts.
Our focus is commercial and packaging printing. India is for us one of the main markets, thus we are investing a lot in the Indian organization, and hiring resources across the board from mechanical engineering to printing instructors. And now we will install our presses with the local team.
PSA – The cost of genuine spare parts can be an issue, would you elaborate?
Mirko Kern – For maximum productivity, you need reliability and the confidence to run the press for the maximum hours at maximum efficiency. And for this, maintenance, service, and spare parts need to be available – at a fair price. For many operational glitches and even breakdowns, we can even help online from Offenbach with remote viewing glasses over the internet. With the right analysis of the problem even if a spare part is needed, it will be the right one.
We can do this and analyze the problem and suggest the right spare part if necessary. Either we send the engineer to make the repair or sometimes sort out the problem with the customer’s team using the video connection. This is not just a futuristic idea but a practical solution that we are using for our customers in India. We are demonstrating this on our stand at the show with a direct connection to the 7-color coater Evolution press at Galaxy Offset in Ghiloth – just south of the Delhi NCR.
To avoid reliability issues in the long-term use of the press, the right spare parts have to be available and at a fair price. Spare parts pricing must finally be fair pricing. The right quality spares from Manroland may not be the cheapest but genuine spares at a fair price will result in less downtime.
PSA – In your view, how is the Manroland Sheetfed team in India developing?
Mirko Kern – I am quite happy with what we have achieved. The Indian market is for us one of the most important future markets and I think we now have a large team here. We decided to invest a lot in this market. We are adding specialists and our team is growing, and I think we have the right setup here now. I am quite happy with the team we have. What we are showing at our stand is our teamwork. Our stand and the activity here are a result of our teamwork. The global team that we have brought will remain in India for a week and a half after the show and travel all over India.
PSA – How would you describe the global market for sheetfed offset presses?
Miko Kern – The strongest market for everybody is China, but Manroland is also strong in Latin America and recently in Europe – especially Italy. Brazil, Mexico. North America is difficult but it may improve now for us, since there is no machine producer in the US. The exchange rate may help us, and we are seen as a reliable partner and a strong company. However, in markets like India, we may be able to increase revenues but margins are tight.
We are financially strong, with a healthy committed investor who will do everything to support us. If you look at his statement on our website, you will see how committed he is. Langley is a brilliant businessman who says he will stay behind Manroland Sheetfed. We are perhaps the healthiest among the three German sheetfed press manufacturers in terms of our human resources and viability. In total, we are around 1,600 people in the print technology division and the division’s turnover is around Euro 300 million. We have 750 to 800 resources in Offenbach and the rest are in the offices around the world. In India and 39 other countries, we are nearly the same as earlier, but we have slimmed down in Offenbach, which was very difficult to do.
Bernard Langley’s Christmas message to the print industry
Excerpted from the Manroland Sheetfed website
Dear Print Professional,
2024 saw the 13th year of Langley Holdings’ stewardship of the Manroland Sheetfed group. Back in February 2012, I had recently joined the family business and stood with my father as he addressed the assembled Offenbach workforce. On that day, he gave a long-term commitment to the company and to the print sector, paraphrasing words from former US president John F Kennedy’s famous Berlin speech: “Ich bin ein Rolander!”
During the ensuing years the industry has faced much turmoil and many challenges, not least at the German heavy metal producers; Manroland, KBA and Heidelberg. All are a fraction of their former selves and there is much speculation about the future of the “big three.” In Manroland Sheetfed’s case much of the speculation is around Langley’s continued support for Manroland Sheetfed.
So here are the facts: Langley remains committed to the printing industry and to its investments in the sector, namely Manroland Sheetfed GmbH, Druck Chemie GmbH and BluePrint Products NV. We are a family-owned group with net assets of over €1 billion – twice that of the current market value of Koenig & Bauer AG and Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG, combined. We are diversified across numerous industrial sectors, Manroland Sheetfed accounts for around 20% of group revenues.
The group will report profits before tax (PBT) for 2024 of around €120 million, similar to that of 2023. The group is entirely debt-free with around one-third of its net asset value represented in cash. As such we make all of our business decisions without the influence of lenders. Like many of our print sector customers, we are a family-owned company. As such we respect and spend money carefully.
We believe in the print sector, we believe in the companies we own in the sector and their products and we believe in the people behind them. . . Langley’s perspective is long-term. We plan and manage our businesses not with the interests of absentee investors eager for short-term returns, lenders who only concentrate on the security of their money, or, private equity looking to sell the businesses they acquire in 3-5 years. Our perspective is intergenerational.
– Bernard J Langley
Main Board Director Langley Holdings plc
Chairman of the Supervisory Board
Manroland Sheetfed GmbH
