Essen, 05.10.2017 – During the autumn meeting of the Initiative Online Print e.V. at Häuser KG (www.druckdiscount24.de), the companies Elanders, Kalfany “Süße Werbung” and Easyordner.de, a company of the Achilles Group, were accepted as new members.
“We are increasingly noticing that online print is not only represented by open shops that are accessible to everyone, but that the B2B sector is experiencing great growth. Therefore, we are very pleased about the new members – all three companies are very strong in B2B and B2B portals and thus optimally complement this area within the IOP “, says Bernd Zipper, Chairman of the IOP.
With a group turnover of almost one billion euros, Elanders, represented by Sven Burkard, is now one of the largest members of the IOP. Elanders is represented on all continents of the world and combines printing and logistics services for its customers. “For Elanders, membership in the IOP is an important step. Our company offers our customers numerous online B2B applications and with Fotokasten and Co. we are also active in the B2C business – so membership was a matter of the heart for us. We value the exchange with our competitors and colleagues very much and are pleased to be able to make an active contribution to shaping the online print industry with our cooperation,” says Sven Burkhard, Managing Director Schmid (Elanders).
Kalfany Süße Werbung is an “online print newcomer” – coming from the confectionery industry, the company has gained a good reputation in the industry, especially in the B2B area of personalised confectionery. Fritz Haasen, Managing Director of Kalfany Süße Werbung GmbH & Co KG, and his team serve numerous brand players in Germany and abroad and are transforming more and more customers in the direction of B2B portals.
Christian Wöppelmann, Managing Director of easyOrdner GmbH, has specialised in the area of online printing for folders and files in recent years. The company, which is part of the Achilles Group, is one of the specialists for finishing in Europe. With easyOrdner.de, Wöppelmann offers customers the possibility to design and order folders online – the B2B sector has also grown in this company in recent years.
At the spring 2017 meeting of the Online Print Initiative, the members of the IOP agreed to launch an initiative to standardise printing presses for online print. The aim of the initiative is to sensitise press suppliers to the specific needs of the online print industry and to influence future developments – in terms of performance, operability and standardisation. This has now been taken further with the planned collaboration with the VDMA. At the autumn meeting, the members decided to intensify the cooperation with the VDMA, the German Engineering Federation, in this regard. The IOP working group “Online print Maschine 2020” will deepen the cooperation with the VDMA in the coming months and develop suitable proposals.
Wilhelm A. Soll, second chairman of the IOP, said: “In the IOP companies there are over 120 large offset presses with more than 940 printing units and over 470 digital presses from a wide range of manufacturers in use – in dialogue with the VDMA we would like to create the conditions for an optimised application in online print. We are looking forward to working together and to entering into direct dialogue with the various manufacturers as early as next year.”
The two-day conference was held in Cologne at the invitation of Häuser KG (www.druckdiscount24.de). In addition to an extensive tour of the production facilities, the main focus was on networking and a comprehensive exchange of experiences. The next conference is planned for spring 2018 in Bolzano/Italy.