Here are some edited excerpts from a letter to customers, employees and other stakeholders from Satoshi Mochida, President and Representative Director of press manufacturer Komori Corporation.
During 2016, the overall global economy was less than robust, due in part to the deceleration of economic growth in China. Looking at the printing industry, in Japan, printing company profits seem to be improving due to steady trends in the advertising market. In Europe, business sentiment toward capital expenditure has grown warmer thanks to gradual economic recovery. In the United States, although print demand got back on the recovery track, printing companies remained cautious about upgrading their facilities. In China, demand remained sluggish due to the deceleration of economic growth and the deterioration of the financial environment. In India and some ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) nations, print demand was firm, fueling demand for printing machinery upgrades, as these markets have been largely unaffected by falling resource prices and currency depreciation.
Komori’s initiatives in 2016 covered many activities, including participation in international exhibitions, transforming the business structure (expansion of new businesses), and overseas expansion of our security printing press business. Above all, Komori’s drupa 2016 tradeshow was themed Open New Pages, with the sub-theme of Connected Print. In line with these themes, our proposals were centered on integrating printing processes to create new solutions. More specifically, we exhibited in front of a global audience the Impremia IS29 digital printing system and the solution cloud KP-Connect that enables visualization of the printing processes. This provided a prime example of our solutions that enable users to perform value-added services by connecting digital and offset printing presses. We’re confident that the demonstration of this and other offerings helped us gain greater recognition among customers worldwide with regard to our PESP business approach. Komori has grown beyond the manufacture of offset printing presses. We’re transforming into a provider of comprehensive print engineering service solutions. Komori’s security printing machinery business enjoyed orders for security printing machines from Crane Currency, one of the fastest growing banknote printers in the world, the Reserve Bank of India and Perum Percetakan Uang Republik Indonesia. To bolster products supporting printing quality and productivity in the PESP business, Komori and Siegwerk have signed a manufacturing and supply agreement for high sensitivity UV ink, a K-Supply product offering high quality and performance, in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). From now on, we will supply “K-Supply ink” optimized for Komori’s H-UV system to the market. Fortunately, the reception of orders for H-UV presses will exceed 800 machines at the beginning of 2017.
Development efforts in collaboration with partners have been under way to create two types of next-generation commercial digital printing presses capable of accommodating needs for small print runs, multiple printed items, short turnarounds, and variable data printing. The Impremia IS29, a 29-inch sheetfed UV inkjet digital printing system developed in partnership with Konica Minolta, was demonstrated at KGC facilities in Japan, the United States and Europe, and subsequently we initiated full-scale marketing of the system in April 2016. We will strive to promote this model utilizing our KGC facilities in Japan and overseas. Additionally, the Impremia NS40, a 40-inch Nanographic Printing system developed with the Israel-based Landa Corporation, provided customers with innovative solutions and received resounding applause in demonstrations at drupa 2016.
As the outlook of the global economy gets murkier, there’s a growing sense of future uncertainty in the business environment surrounding the company. In this economic and industrial climate, Komori Corporation will nevertheless push forward with its initiatives aimed at achieving transformation, promoting the PESP business approach, expanding the range of its marketing and securing a corporate structure capable of delivering broader product and service lineups. We will further strengthen cooperation with the printing industry, pursue customer convenience and support improvement of the profit structure of the entire industry. Our management philosophy, realization of customer Kando, remains our goal in the new year, and Komori will continue to create solutions for mutual growth.
Komori will make every effort to meet your expectations.
Komori President shares his company’s aspirations for 2017
