Consumables Abound

Gulf Print & Pack 2013 – ME Printer Special Coverage
Part One – Industry On The Rebound
Part Two – A Solid Show From Digital Printing Suppliers
Part Three – Packaging is King
Part Four – The Devil is in The Detail
Part Five – Consumables Abound

Xingraphics ‘Misses’ Offset Players

Xingraphics was not particularly upbeat about the absence of major offset press manufacturers in the show.  “We are an inseparable part of the offset industry. So when the biggest press manufacturers decide not to attend we are also affected. The number of visitors was not encouraging either. But nevertheless we are here to show our commitment to the industry,” says Safwan Hijazi, Xingraphics’ corporate vice president. 

The Chinese plate manufacturer promoted its thermal CTP plates: Fit Invado and Primus+ during the show. These plates are widely used in Middle East and African market.  During our chat with Hijazi we also asked him about their on-going dispute with Agfa on patent infringement. Recently a court in Netherlands ruled against Xingraphics. Hijazi says the ruling only applies in Netherlands and that they have placed counter appeal against that ruling. Based on an announcement by Xingraphics, the company won twice earlier in the patent litigation against Agfa in the Netherlands. Parallel patent litigation between Xingraphics and Agfa is ongoing in Germany, where appeal proceedings are pending. Agfa has not filed patent actions against the marketing of the”FIT” thermal printing plates in other European countries. Hijazi believes at the end some sort of settlement between Agfa and Xingraphics will happen. We certainly hope so because this dispute has been dragging on for too long costing a lot of money and time for both companies.

APP Focuses on Networking

Asia Pulp and Paper had a strong presence at Gulf Print and Pack and they used the platform to network with new and existing clients. Suresh Kilam, Executive Director of APP said, “We value our customers very much and our participation here strengthens our commitment to our customers. Gulf Print and Pack provides the opportunity for networking and for understanding the needs of the market.”

Asia Pulp and Paper is one of the largest paper producers in the world and they have expanded considerably in the Middle East region during the past decade. The company highlighted their premium brands like Inspira, Sinarline and X-Brite among other products during the show.

Böttcher to Widen Operations in Middle East

Böttcher, the German based OEM supplier of rollers, printing chemicals, blankets and plates, sleeves and compounds and other ancillary products had a fruitful experience at GPP ’13. The company, which has its presence all over the world, is now planning to enhance its operations in the Middle East region. Dirk Odenbrett, chief sales officer of the company talking to ME Printer said, “We started our office in Dubai 2 years back and so far we have received good response from the market. Recently we introduced flexo sleeves into this market and have got good enquires for it from areas like Saudi Arabia.”

Explaining about the services of Böttcher, Dirk said, “We cover the entire spectrum of the print industry, which includes sheetfed, offset, flexo, gravure and we also supply chemicals. We not only provide new equipments but also re-furbish used equipments for our clients.”

 Dirk observed that the demand for UV printing and packaging is on the rise in the Middle East region. “We see good potential for us to grow in this region and I think that once we make ourselves familiar, we will be able to penetrate into more markets here.”

He added, “Böttcher is the OEM supplier of sheetfed presses such as manroland, Heidelberg, KBA and Komori. In the web sector we supply for the presses of manroland, KBA etc. After sale service is another important sector for us and we put special focus here as it gives the chance to establish direct contact with the customers. A major challenge in our business is to convince the customer about the quality aspects and make them understand that in the long run only quality prevails.”

“We understand that availability of materials is very important to support customers. Therefore we always stock products, especially the exchange rollers for sheetfed presses. We also have a joint venture with a Japanese company, where we supply rollers for digital printing equipments and also for office communication tools like printers,” added Dirk. Böttcher has a turnover of about 220 million Euros and employs over 1600 people in their establishment. They have factories in various countries including Germany, Spain, UK, France, Italy, Thailand, US and China.