Feras Printing Press that specializes in high-quality commercial printing announced that it would be moving to its new headquarters in Amman, Jordan. The expansion was done to meet the growing demand of print orders from customers.
The new building is situated in an area of around 4,000 square meters and was built at a total cost of US $ 2.6 million. The four story building houses different printing departments and the press has updated its facilities with a new Die cut machine from Kama and a new adhesive line for packaging.
Talking about the expansion plans in an interview with ME Printer, Bader Al-Safadi, Owner of the Printing Press and General Manager said, “Our ambition has no boundaries. We always strive for development and this expansion stems from our commitment to provide high quality printed products that would meet our customer demands. We always look to keep up with the latest trends in the printing industry and for the development of the printing press.”
In addition to the expansion and increasing the production of the printing press, Safadi believes that the move to the new building will contribute in reducing the operating costs of printing. He said that the high rents in Jordan had been an additional burden on the printing press.
Explaining their decision, he said, “Certainly risks are taken only by the brave. We are confident in the level of our performance, as well as in our customers. All these provided us a strong motivation to complete the expansion project.”
Talking about the printing market in Jordan, Safadi commented, “Although the local market may be small, but the competition is very high. Though there has been a decrease in the quantity of orders placed, the demand for printing is still very much there in the market.”
Sharing his impression about drupa, Safadi said, “At drupa, we observed that the trend is more towards digital printing.” He predicted that digital printing would increase in the future because of its potential to print small quantities and short run jobs. He observed that packaging industry is also on the upward scale as it is of vital importance to all industries.
According to Safadi, offset printing is still dominant. “So far we do not have any tendency to shift to digital printing. Printing is an art in itself, every dot printed is an art and it should be done with perfection and finish. Only offset printers offer this level of finesse and digital printers still do not offer the quality that is produced by offset printers. In my opinion, offset still dominates printing, both in quality and execution.”
Speaking about the challenges faced in the Jordanian printing market, Safadi said, “Although there is a trend in Jordan to exempt investments from taxes and customs duties and making available materials for printing, the major problem that we face is the lack of technical manpower. This often causes disruption to our production process. For example, one day I had to cut paper because of the lack of operators and as there was no one to replace these staff.”
Talking about the future plans of the printing press, he said that the press is planning to expand in the packaging field. “We are gradually entering the packaging sector, and we aspire to expand in this sector in the future. For this, we are visiting various exhibitions and checking on the machines available on the packaging front, and are giving training to our employees.”
Feras Printing Press was founded in 1987 with a capital of US$ 14 million. It is considered to be one of the first printing presses in the Middle East and North Africa, which offerd high quality printing and services. The press is equipped with machines like Heidelberg Speedmaster 74 eight colour, Heidelberg XL 75 five colour with water base, Printmaster 74 of chromatin, Speedmaster 52 four colour, Speedmaster 52 two colour, Ryobi printing machine and Heidelberg CtP 70 x 100 and 50 x 70 online, as well as finishing machines from Horizon and Muller Martini, Image control systems and 2 Polar cutting machines.
