Ryobi, Graphic Systems Announce $8.6M in New Offset Press Sales

ATLANTA and TOKYO—November 4, 2013—Graphic Systems North America, the exclusive distributor of Ryobi printing presses in the United States and Canada, said today it booked more than $8.6 million in new press sales in the last 90 days, including four separate eight-up Ryobi 920 series presses with a total of 24 print units.

The combined sales represent the strongest startup of any Ryobi master distributor in the last five years, said Hideki Domoto, general manager of Ryobi Graphic Systems and a corporate officer of parent company Ryobi Ltd. In all, eight presses with a total of 32 print units have been sold by GSNA, which was appointed master distributor in July 2013.

The founders of Graphic Systems North America are veteran printing equipment suppliers: GSNA West: Print & Finishing Solutions; GSNA Central: Graphco; GSNA Northeast: G.E. Richards; GSNA Southeast: Paper Handling Solutions; GSNA Eastern Canada: KBR Graphics Canada and GSNA Western Canada: Canadian Printing Equipment.

The newest sales and installations are evidence of increasing demand for high-technology offset presses in the United States and Canada—and also represent several important Ryobi “firsts” in both nations. Following is a region-by-region summary of the sales:

• An Eastern U.S. commercial printer will soon install a Ryobi 924 with coater, joining a fleet of other Ryobi presses including a six-up Ryobi 755XL with coater.
• A Canadian commercial printer will soon install a Ryobi 925 featuring the first North American deployment of LED-UV instant cure technology from Panasonic.
• A Midwest U.S. commercial printer will soon install the first Ryobi 928P long perfector press in North America.
• A Western U.S. commercial printer has installed a Ryobi 925 with coater, doubling pressroom capacity.
• A Western U.S. commercial printer will soon install a Ryobi 524GX with coater, doubling pressroom capacity.
• A Western U.S. state government in-plant printer has installed a Ryobi 524GX, replacing presses from competing German and Japanese manufacturers.

“Successful commercial and in-plant printers know that high-automation, high-reliability offset is essential to maximizing print profitability well into the future,” noted Domoto in a recent visit with more than 125 attendees at the Ryobi open house last week in Atlanta. (GSNA will issue a report on the open house later this week.)

“GSNA has quickly established a formidable sales record and a strong infrastructure for sales, service and parts supply,” added Domoto, noting sales of six major Ryobi presses (32 print units) and two smaller Ryobi presses within 90 days. “It’s an impressive start to a long-term relationship.”

Don Barbour, co-founder of GSNA and owner of Paper Handling Solutions, Marietta, GA, also relayed: “These new sales and installations are clear evidence that Ryobi’s state-of-the-art presses, its new LED-UV instant cure technology and GSNA’s highly responsive local technical support deliver the most compelling capital equipment value proposition for U.S. and Canadian printers today.”

About Graphic Systems North America
Graphic Systems North America is the largest independent source of printing equipment, technical service and parts in North America. GSNA delivers exclusive access to Ryobi’s full line of offset and digital presses for commercial, packaging and in-plant printers in the United States and Canada, together with immediate technical support and parts fulfillment.

Formed in 2013 with co-headquarters in four U.S. states and two Canadian provinces, the GSNA group has more than $60 million in revenue and constitutes the single largest offset press sales and service team in North America.

More than 30 print industry sales consultants offer sophisticated business analytics to support capital equipment decisions. Fifty-plus factory-trained technicians and parts professionals deliver printers local, real-time support in close coordination with Ryobi’s engineering and technical team in Japan. Six separate spare parts depots across three North American time zones are closely aligned to ensure printers have quick, often overnight access to parts.

GSNA also oversees a network of 20 printing equipment dealer-partners in North America. GSNA offers the full Ryobi line with an emphasis on the eight-up Ryobi 920, the six-up Ryobi 750, the economy six-up Ryobi 760 series and the two-up Ryobi 520 series presses.

About Ryobi Graphic Systems
Ryobi is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of sheetfed offset printing presses, hardware, software and related peripherals. Its high-speed, advanced automation, multicolor presses are respected for unsurpassed print quality, low total cost of ownership, ease of operation and extreme reliability.

Ryobi presses are available in two-, four-, six- and eight-up formats in up to 10 colors. They feature a wide range of configurations including inline coaters, energy-and-cost saving LED-UV instant curing units as well as UV casting and foiling systems for special effects and security printing. Press speeds exceed 16,500 sph.

Ryobi also offers hybrid offset/inkjet personalized printing in partnership with Kodak and is pioneering the world’s fastest six-up liquid toner press slated for worldwide delivery soon.

Source: GSNA and Ryobi.