While for offset printing equipment market is shrinking in many parts of the world, in our region the demand for conventional machines is still strong. Heidelberg Middle East recently sold a number of printing equipment to printers in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
First stop Smart Colors which opened this year in Dubai took delivery of an SM 74- 4H. The company is a commercial printer located in Deira. Mohammad al Najjar company’s owner and a Syrian national says,” We have a number of Heidelberg presses including SM 52 and SM 74 as well as Roland B1 and Roland B2, as well as perfect binding machine, Agfa platesetter, fully automatic hot foil and laminating machines and a number of GTO’s. We have opened this print house less than a year ago and business so far has been good.”
Next company who invested in a new CD 102-5L is Delta Printing Press. The company has won a number of print awards and is one of the largest printing houses in UAE. The company is equipped with a number of KBA and Heidelberg presses and it is specialized in high quality commercial printing as well as packaging. Company’s new CD 102 comes with all the bells and whistles including Autoplate, Auto Wash, Plus feeder ,Plus delivery and Easy Control.
Sujit Vaidya, Delta’s CEO says they had a very good experience with the 6 colour CD 102 equipped with UV capability so they decided to buy another CD to respond to the growing demand for quality print job.”
We are an ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 company and quality has been always paramount for us. We are also proud recipient of many Print awards which inspire us to be even more quality conscious.” Delta also has invested in digital printing equipment as well as Multitex narrow web press.” Commercial printing is not as profitable as before and commercial printers such as us are finding it necessary to diversify and find new revenue streams. That’s why we have also invested in narrow web press for label printing. Label is a growing market and in order to have a larger market share we have invested in an all new Gallus 9 colour narrow web press which has been already shipped and will be installed in our premises within next few months,” comments Vaidya.
Last but not least is Vision in Printing and Publishing in Abu Dhabi. The company kick started operation in 2009 and has been growing since then. Located in Abu Dhabi’s Mussafah district, Vision is a successful commercial printer and recently boosted its prepress capacity with a new CtP Suprasetter 106 buy along with processor as well as Metadimension and Signastation software from Heidelberg.
For Abdullah Al Hamadi, company’s director the investment made sense since the company was outsourcing its plate imaging operation. “We use to pay 35000 AED every month for plate imaging operation to other companies. Now we can do that in house thanks to our new Suprasetter.
Our customers which include governmental sector, advertising and real estate companies are looking for quality and fast delivery. The new Suprasetter makes us a one stop shop for our customers,” explains Al Hamadi.
These investments are clear indication of a healthy printing and packaging market in the UAE and the region. However while commercial printing market is shrinking –Albeit with a smaller pace comparing to Europe and US- printers are finding new ways to generate revenues. Packaging and digital printing seem to be a safe bet for time being.
Others such as Vision Printing and Publishing that have relied on outsourcing are expanding their operation by offering from A to Z of printing in house which includes complete prepress and finishing.
