Just steps away from the famous Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo lies the Police Press, which is considered to be one of the biggest printing presses in Egypt. Built on an area of 3,000 square meters, this edifice is equipped with numerous modern printing equipments that are quite unique in Egypt and the entire North Africa, which makes it a place worth to visit.
The overcrowded roads in Cairo delayed my appointment and I arrived an hour late to meet Eng. Hani Al Bayoumy, Senior Key Account manager at Youssef Allam (Heidelberg’s agent in Egypt), Mohamed Abu Zahra, Police Press General Manager and Ahmed Abd El Hay, Maintenance Manager of the press. They gave me a warm reception and introduced me to the various departments from design to finishing and delivery in the printing press. Using a blend of old and new equipment the press delivers a wide range of printed products for governmental organizations and private sector.
The Journey Begins
Walking through the corridors of the press, Muhammad Abu Zahra, General Manager and one of the founders of the Police press talked about the formation of the press. “The idea to establish the press began in 1999. The press project was part of the Police Officers Insurance Fund, which was funded by the Ministry of Interior. The total capital of the project at that time was around 9 million Egyptian pounds (around US$ 1.5 million). Thanks to proper planning and strategy, we were able to double the capital to 104 million Egyptian pounds (US$ 18 million) and we are proud to say that today the press employs around 715 staff that includes engineers, administrators and technicians among others.”
Abu Zahra said that the police press is considered as a leader in the market that keeps pace with modern printing technologies. He said that it is one of the first printing presses in Egypt that introduced digital and security printing. The press has the capability to produce all kinds of publications including trade, newspapers and magazines. The company boasts screen printing, laser engraving, plastic card printing equipment as well as a wide range of other kits for production of high quality print jobs for a broad clientele. The press prints documents such as driving license and birth certificates for the Ministry of Interior, prints textbooks for the Ministry of Education, and does various kinds of print jobs for commercial establishments. The press provides round the clock service and is run by a team of experts. The integrated team monitors and evaluates the quality of production on a regular basis and also ensures that products are delivered on time.
Heidelberg Factory!
The offset department of the press is a true sight to behold. The whole area is filled with equipments and I was quite surprised to see the fully air-conditioned press because in a country like Egypt it is really expensive to fit the whole area with air conditioning units. Ahmed Abd El Hay, Maintenance Manager was quick to give the reason, “It is important to have a facility that has proper working condition, and that suits the nature and duties of the people who work in it. Our facilities match with presses in Europe and Gulf and provide a stimulating work environment, which helps in producing quality products.”
Another interesting factor is the number of Heidelberg machines running in the press. One would feel that they are walking into a Heidelberg factory. Abd El Hay had his reasons, “Since inception, we have maintained high quality printing and all the while it had been Heidelberg machines that had helped us in maintaining that quality. We had started working with three Heidelberg machines including a SM 102 and two GTO machines. Currently we have a Heidelberg CD 102, SM 102 and around 17 GTO machines in 2 colour and 1 colour. We feel that the arsenal of our Heidelberg presses was the major reason behind our success. The maintenance and related costs are also much lower when compared to other companies and Heidelberg has a good reputation in this market. Our stock of spare parts, which is worth about 3 million Egyptian pounds gives a clear picture about the sheer number of press fleet.
No Fear for Traditional Printing
The company has also increased its printing capacity considerably by installing a new Goss Community machine with 2 towers and reel stand. Each tower has a capacity to print 35,000 copies per hour. Abu Zahra, Director-General of the Press said, “Having a web printing machine was like a dream come true for us. At the beginning we were looking forward to install an 8 colour machine, but Engineer Adel Allam, Chairman of Youssef Allam Group suggested trying web printing. We consider this installation as a milestone in the history of the press.” Abu Zahra added that the investment will now allow the printing press to meet the requirements of the Ministry of Education. He hoped that now textbooks can be printed in record time, in addition to printing newspapers and magazines.
Mentioning about the risks involved in this step, Abu Zahra said, “It is a well thought decision, and is still early to talk about the future risk aspects, especially in a country the size of Egypt. Though internet and social media have a great influence in the region, about 60 to 70 per cent of the Egyptian people still prefer to read printed newspapers and magazines.”
Hani Al Bayoumy, Senior Key Account Manager at Youssef Allam also argues that the digital publishing technology is yet to go mainstream in Egypt or anywhere else for that matter. According to Al Bayoumy even in advanced economies such as UK offset is still the printing process of choice.
Digital Printing Also Has its Share
The press has its share of digital printers, and it owns a Kodak Nexpress 5 colour that prints on different types and sizes of paper. The Company also has a Kodak DigiMaster. Abu Zahra confirms that the introduction of digital printing presses has had a significant impact on the production cycle of the press, especially in the areas of variable data printing and smaller runs.
According to Abu Zahra, digital printing still lacks the required quality and finish when compared with offset.
He added, “We are seeing an increase in demand for publications day after day. From our part, we are constantly exploring new areas such as security printing. We have done many high quality jobs for the Ministry of Interior which included state-of-the art security features.
Pre Press Department
The press is equipped with colour separation system as well as scanners and an Avalon LF thermal CtP machine from AGFA. The platesetter delivers 19 plates per hour while the press produces an average of 500 to 700 plates per month and still runs the traditional CtF system from Heidelberg along with the platesetter.
Abd El Hay explained that the printing press is planning to have a new CtP machine from Heidelberg in the coming months. He added, “We are now studying the technical specifications and other details required for the CtP and a committee is appointed for this purpose. The committee includes a team of printing press staff and leading experts in print.”
Finishing
The police press has a full-fledged finishing department that includes binding systems from Muller Martini, which are primarily used for the finishing of Quran and other textbooks. It also has cutting machines from Polar, laminating machines and a variety of other finishing equipment.
Abu Zahra mentioned that attention to details have helped the press in delivering high quality products. “We have a sophisticated finishing department that follows the current trends in production systems to deliver high quality products. The machines enable us to produce high quality publications. When we print Quran, not a minor error is accepted and the production department closely examines the product before it is delivered.” Abu Zahra added that the printing press is planning to have an integrated finishing line in order to enhance its production process.
Employment Training
Training and educating employees is a first priority job here. According to Abu Zahra, proper training programs and guidance are provided to employees on a periodical basis to ensure that they can meet the requirements of the press on time. He added that supervision from senior engineers and training programs offered by Youssef Allam helps in enhancing the efficiency of their workers. Meanwhile, Hani Al Bayoumy from Youssef Allam said that Police Press and Youssef Allam have entered into a partnership, which agrees to provide training to the employees of the press and develop their capabilities in print. He added, “Both of us have a very good understanding and we feel that their success is ours as well.”
Market Challenges
Recollecting the challenges that the printing press has gone through during the past 13 years, Abu Zahra said, “We have faced many challenges in the printing market in Egypt. From my point of view, I think that intense competition and rising prices were the most difficult challenges that we have faced so far. The absence of quality was also a challenge as people were more focused on price rather than the quality.”
Talking about the impact of the January 25 revolution on the printing market, Abu Zahra said that though there were repercussions, there was less impact on the printing scenario. “There is no doubt that there has been an impact on our business from the revolution. Though the percentage of impact was lower compared to others, thanks to our performance and experience, we could overcome the challenges posed by the revolution. The confidence of our customers also contributed in stabilizing our production levels.”
According to Abu Zahra, the printing market in Egypt requires high quality products at minimum cost, which often creates problems. He emphasized that the printing market in Egypt has managed to keep abreast of the latest trends and techniques in printing and today matches the standards of presses in neighbouring countries. He explained, “During the eighties and the nineties printing standard was different in the Arab region. For example, Beirut was considered to be the centre of high quality printing, but today we have all the capacity and expertise to implement any kind of publications and print jobs.”
Offset Vs Digital
In light of the fierce competition between offset and digital printing, which is intensifying day after day, Abu Zahra said, “It is true that digital printing is emerging but offset still rules the market. As far as the quality is concerned, we believe that offset is the best option, especially since most of our publications are either government publications, magazines or other trade journals.”
Hani Al Bayoumy dispensed the arguments that offset printing has no future. “I think that the real competitor for digital printing is from digital publishing and not offset. There is no doubt that the competition is getting fierce and is progressing but still offset leads both in quality and value. It is not easy for presses to shift from offset to digital.”
Abd El Hay observed that offset offers high quality, can print huge volumes, has large operational capacity and has a low cost of production, and if digital printing can compete on these aspects, it can pull the rug under from offset.
Abu Zahra talked about the integration of offset and digital printing. “We integrate both offset and digital technologies. We print test copies for our customers in digital before it is being printed on offset. This has boosted the customers’ confidence in us and has served as an added feature.”
Future Plans
Speaking about their future plans, Abu Zahra said, “We have devised many plans for the future and we hope that they will all be accomplished soon. We are planning to open a new packaging department with packaging production lines at our new press facility in October 6 City, West of Cairo. We will also complete the construction of the printing facility for our web press and it will be productive by next year. We are also considering purchasing a Xerox digital printer for security printing as well for three dimensional printing.”
Abu Zahra approved that exhibitions and international events provide a suitable platform to follow the latest technology trends. “We visit international exhibitions in order to know more about the latest technology offered in the field of printing. Last drupa, a delegation from the press attended the exhibition to identify the latest equipments in the field and to enquire about the new possibilities in printing. As we all know, packaging is the latest trend and we got the opportunity to explore an integrated package printer from Heidelberg.”
