On 8th November, some 200 Chinese print professionals from all parts of the country, including Hong Kong and Taiwan, met in Wuxi to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Koenig & Bauer. This latest highlight for the Chinese print branch came just a few weeks after the official festivities at the Koenig & Bauer group headquarters in Würzburg. Some 80 Rapida users, including a number of those present, sent congratulations in the form of video messages, while others took the opportunity to pass on their greetings in person. Together, they recalled important moments from their past cooperation with Koenig & Bauer and reported on the broad spectrum of high-quality print products and services which they are able to offer as partners of the oldest press manufacturer in the world.

Dietmar Heyduck, Senior Vice President Sales from KBA-Sheetfed, and Walter Zehner, CEO of Koenig & Bauer Greater China, gave welcoming addresses in which they emphasised that authenticity remains a guiding principle for Koenig & Bauer as it enters the third century of its company history, and that the company will continue to pursue innovations geared to a prosperous future for the print industry. At the same time, Dietmar Heyduck presented the new brand image of Koenig & Bauer, which conveys the strength of a tradition-steeped brand to both new and existing customers through a modern corporate and product design.

Lu Chang An, Vice President of the Chinese printing industry association PEIAC, wished Koenig & Bauer all the best on its company anniversary and presented a special gift to the hosts. As a central element of the festive event, seven users of Koenig & Bauer technology joined a panel discussion with Dietmar Heyduck and Walter Zehner to speak about their partnerships with the manufacturer and to explore the trends which they expected to shape the future of the print industry in China.

The users were unanimous in their assessment that innovations from Koenig & Bauer were enabling their companies to implement new business models. That applies especially to the fields of environment protection, Industry 4.0, networking and digitisation, not least in market segments such as large format, web offset, flexo, personalised packaging and others which are contributing to further growth of the Chinese print industry.

For a number of years now, China has been the highest-volume market in the world for sheetfed offset presses from Koenig & Bauer. It thus seemed only fitting to come to China and to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the company together with country’s users. Against the background of increasing labour and material costs, the topics of productivity and automation are becoming foremost priorities in China. This is reflected in recent deliveries of highly automated presses from the Rapida 106 series, some of which implement highly specialised configurations, e.g. further printing units after coating. In future, too, China is set to remain one of Koenig & Bauer’s most important single markets for sheetfed business.