PIA and manroland Extend Partnership to Include Collaborative Research and Training

PITTSBURGH/WESTMONT, IL—07/01/09—Printing Industries of America (PIA) and manroland Inc. are moving to a next level in their partnership that will include collaborative research and training activities, the two organizations announced today.

Laying a Successful Foundation
PIA’s ability to successfully utilize a manroland ROTOMAN web press for the benefit of printers, students and visitors laid the groundwork for the next phase in the organization’s relationship.

“We’ve had the privilege of having the ROTOMAN here even longer than we were supposed to, says Michael Makin, CEO of PIA. “Five years after install, the demand was such that we requested, and manroland consented to, a two-year extension.”

In fact, over 7,000 people have either trained on or viewed demonstrations of the ROTOMAN. Customer interest in the press, especially as the web marketplace is restructuring in to an onsite training model that the two organizations may together fulfill, resulted in a joint decision to decommission the press in its current location.

“PIA has represented web technology and manroland in their best light, and shares our philosophy in putting the print professionals’ needs first in everything they do,” said Vince Lapinski, manroland Inc. CEO. “We look forward to bringing the power of our combined knowledge and experience to manroland customers throughout North America.”

The Future
PIA foresees collaborative research and training that includes manroland’s and Printing Industries’ areas of expertise, such as stochastic printing on webs, benchmarking of materials, the minimization of piling, and optimization techniques for consumables.

Mark Bohan, VP Technology and Research for Printing Industries of America, says “We’ve been able to identify best practices and increase the productivity of our printer members, as well as improve consumables quality, by working with manroland. The company’s vast knowledge of sheetfed and web technologies is indispensable to the industry. I look forward to a strengthened relationship with manroland and extending these benefits into this next phase, which will provide ongoing benefits to the graphic arts industry.”

About Printing Industries of America
Printing Industries of America is the world’s largest graphic arts trade association, representing an industry with approximately one million employees. It serves the interests of more than 10,000 member companies. Together with its nationwide affiliate network, Printing Industries delivers products and services that enhance the growth, efficiency and profitability of its members, and the graphic communications industry through advocacy, education, research and technical information.

About manroland Inc.
manroland Inc., a division of manroland AG, is the world’s second largest printing systems manufacturer and the world’s market leader in web offset. manroland employs almost 8,700 people and has annual sales of some Euro 1.7 billion with an export share of almost 80%. Web and sheetfed offset presses provide solutions for publishing, commercial and packaging printing. For more information visit the web site at www.manroland.us.com.