Exclusive interview with Rene Ludvigsen (CEO of Koenig & Bauer Asia Pacific):

On the sidelines of the opening ceremony of the Koenig & Bauer AG office in Cikarang, Print Graphic Magazine had the opportunity to interview Koenig & Bauer AG Asia Pacific, CEO Rene Ludvigsen in the ballroom of the Holiday in Cikarang Hotel (20 Nov 2019). Some important statements made by Rene during the interview session. Here are the results:

What is your opinion about the printing business climate in the world today?

Rene Ludvigsen: “Indeed there has been a transition in the global printing world, where the world of commercial printing has transferred to other media but still represent an important part of the Print Media Industry – Commercial Printing is not dead far the opportunities but changing. Major disruptions to our industry will continue over the coming years as new technologies emerges. But I believe that printing growth will still continue to increase, especially in Asia. Therefore, as the market is changing, we need to change to become totally customer centric meaning understanding the business model of our customers and their pinpoints. Do we better can support them also one of the reasons for opening and taking over the representation in Indonesia directly. Jakarta is only the first stop in our Indonesia.

We see Koenig & Bauer dominating more in the carton packaging segment. According to you?

Rene : “Partly true, but that is coming more from our history – we are currently having 70% market share in large format presses. Our presses are build with high speed and quick make ready in mind which often addresses the packaging sector better. We also recently extended our portfolio by DieCutters and Folder Gluers so we are now able to offer a complete solution for packaging printer including application and service support  which are of paramount importance for the modern printer nowadays – the success of the printer will in future come from – speed, reduced make ready and reduced waste. That is also one of the reasons why we have two top German as Application Consultant based in the region – our only mission is the make our customers utilizing our machines full which again can only be achieved via ongoing training and support. ”

What do you think about Digital Printing?

Rene: “Digital printing, especially in the digital inkjet press sector, has experienced significant growth. Although economically, it cannot yet match what is achieved by offset. This is due to operational costs and the costs of ink that is currently more expensive that offset in particular for longer runs. Consequently, Koenig & Bauer continues to develop inkjet presses, both in collaboration with HP and in-joint ventures with Durst to build a digital packaging printing system machine which can print on different substances – details I will show you at Drupa 2020 ”

What is Koenig & Bauer’s vision going forward?

Rene: “Obviously we have the ambition to increase sales even more and improve service faster by developing Digital Customer Centric Sales and Service Organization. We will also increase promotions including customer and media visits to our factory and increase advertising promotions in your media. The opening of an office in Cikarang is the initial phase. We will also open offices in the future in Surabaya in the coming years.

How is Koenig & Bauer in your opinion?

Rene : “Koenig & Bauer has a streamlined management structure, so coordination between management can be done very quickly and mobile. In addition to the sophistication and reliability of the machine, all Koenig & Bauer machines are manufactured in Germany even our side frames are produced in our own founder in Wurzburg, Germany, so there are no customers who will doubt the capabilities of the machines we produce.”  @