Untangling impact of vendor tie-ups

We can thank Heidelberger Druckmaschinen for putting digital-offset partnerships on the agenda. It all started last March when the Big German confirmed it was talking to potential partners to sell a digital solution in 170 countries – a ‘killer’ press that will push other digital vendors’ offerings into the shade. Since then, the movement snowballed across all the major German press makers, with KBA having just announced a tie-up with US printing giant RR Donnelley in March 2011.

In fact, there are two different trends. The first is the kind of top-level R&D pairings that KBA has promised with RRD (see box, overleaf). Many expect something similar to come out of Heidel­berg’s global deal with Ricoh.

The other approach is one we have already seen: a straightforward sales partnership. Australian printers were one of the first groups of customers to try out this new hybrid distribution channel after Heidelberg ANZ signed a deal with Konica Minolta to sell a number of the Japanese vendor’s digital production machines.