manroland and redtie announce strategic partnership

Manroland GB and web-to-print specialist, RedTie have announced the formation of a strategic partnership, which will be officially introduced to the industry at IPEX 2010. The new partnership, which will be initially rolled out in the UK, aims to build awareness of the considerable benefits of an effective web-to-print solution for commercial printers.

Says Norman Revill, managing director, manroland GB: "The announcement of this strategic partnership is great news for manroland GB, and fits succinctly with our overall strategy for IPEX 2010, which is to reinforce our position as the strategic partner of choice for printers. This year, the manroland stand is dedicated to profiling how we can help printers to increase their range of services through the intelligent use of added value print applications up and down the print production chain, and secure their own position as a strategic partner for their customers in the process."

Says Marian Stefani, managing director, RedTie: "So much of the story when it comes to web-to-print is about education - helping printers to understand how a technology like this can work hard for them and generate profit, not just through creating greater efficiencies, but by providing them with a competitive advantage. Technology today has to do more than just create efficiencies. It's got to add real value and make money for the printer."

"Working in partnership with a respected major press manufacturer, like manroland, will enable us to take the web-to-print message to the 'printing masses' in the commercial printing sector. To date, web-to-print has been more commonly associated with digital printing. However, as RedTie's web-to-print solution is production-agnostic, its applications also sit very comfortably in the litho world. This is our first time at IPEX, so to be able to announce a strategic partnership with manroland just before the show sets a great platform for success at IPEX."

In April, RedTie will begin training the manroland GB sales team in all the virtues of its web-to-print solution. "We will be providing the manroland team with all the tools and support they require to drive the education, awareness and sales of this integrated offering into the market," continues Stefani. "I think the combined power of our web-to-print solution and one of the world's leading litho press manufacturers can only be good for printers, as together we will be able to educate the market on the real potential web-to-print has to open up strong, new revenue streams for printers."

And, to ensure visitors to IPEX can also benefit from the new partnership, RedTie will have its own booth and sales team on the manroland stand– stand 17-F921, Hall 17, where it will be giving demonstrations of its web-to-print software solution.

Mr Revill says the motivation behind the strategic partnership is simple: "We are always looking for exciting, innovative companies to partner with. In RedTie we have found a company that shares the same aims and principles that we do – the desire to put profit back in the hands of printers, and the drive to provide them with the best possible tools to achieve this. I have been very impressed with the dedication and professionalism of the RedTie team. They have an excellent business growth strategy and offer genuine 'hands-on' assistance to customers to help them grow their businesses. We are looking forward to working with them over the coming months as this partnership is rolled out into the UK market.

Concludes Revill: "The industry as a whole needs to take a radical look at the way it positions itself and the services it offers to ensure it can meet the needs of customers in the future. We all know it's not about ink on paper anymore. It's about the added value attached to it, and most importantly of all, the value customers place on it. The new world is a complex mix of multi-channel communications and marketing, and print and printers must add genuine value at the strategic level to complete and find their rightful place in this process. Both manroland and RedTie are completely dedicated to helping printers achieve this."