Parallel to the really pleasing order intake, we have been able to deliver presses and other equipment all over the world – from the half-format Rapida 75/76, via numerous presses of the Rapida 105/106 series, up to the large-format Rapida 145 – in response to your orders. For the first time, furthermore, we have supplied Iberica flat-bed die-cutters to users in Switzerland and Canada, and our Evo XD flexo press has been commissioned successfully in South Africa and the USA. A fifth RotaJET for decor printing has also joined our list of installations to date, while the first CorruCUT has now passed its all-important factory acceptance tests. This highly automated flexo press for corrugated sheets up to 2.8 metres wide adds a further important product to our packaging portfolio and will enable us to consolidate our strong position in a market segment which continues to grow across all continents. Following the world’s largest installation of a Commander CT at the Daily News in New York, we are pleased to be able to serve another customer in Florida with this high-performance press.

These are all activities which you, our valued customers, have initiated with your orders, and which we are determined to realise with purposeful vigour and to your full satisfaction. Alongside the business with new machinery, we are continuing to advance the digital transformation of the group: In May, a major open house in Radebeul met with enormous customer response and provided proof of the progress which has already been achieved towards integrating the latest technologies in press manufacture and the associated services. At the same time, we are developing some extremely interesting solutions to further raise the anti-counterfeiting security of banknotes, for example. In this issue, you will find an introduction to the innovative security feature “SUSI FLIPTM”.

Several international trade fairs will be taking place in September and October. You can meet Koenig & Bauer at Fachpack in Nürnberg, at the K 2019 in Düsseldorf, and at the WPE, formerly WAN-IFRA, in Berlin. We look forward to your visits, and hope you enjoy reading the new Koenig & Bauer Report, issue 55, which offers you further exciting and informative insights into all the aforementioned topics.

Yours,

Claus Bolza-Schünemann