L’INTERVISTA A MARCO REGGIROLI
nisti: la stampa offset commerciale, quella per i giornali quotidiani, il packaging e la stampa digitale di grande formato. L’anello di congiunzione tra i molti comparti dove operiamo è il software; la colonna vertebrale delle aziende efficaci ed efficienti. Deve aiutare ad automatizzare e standardizzare, deve contribuire a ridurre i tempi di lavorazione senza derogare dagli standard qualitativi aziendali. Agfa Graphics non agisce da “box mover” ma è un partner consulenziale che permette e favorisce la crescita continua dal punto di vista produttivo e delle marginalità aziendali”. tere in ambito internazionale e se a parità di costi riuscissero a strutturarsi meglio potrebbero diventare più che concorrenziali in ambito europeo”.
Dalle strategie ai prodotti; come affrontate il mercato?
L’evoluzione tecnologica sta ottimizzando/migliorando, in sintesi cambiando il vostro settore, quale tecnica di stampa avrà maggior peso? “La stampa digitale di grande formato avrà un grosso
“Agfa Graphics ha l’obiettivo e la volontà di essere il
impatto sull’industria grafica. Le previsioni per il merca-
partner preferenziale per l’industria grafica.Perseguiamo
to europeo parlano una diminuzione del 25% dei volu-
l’obiettivo grazie al nostro assortimento prodotti, che copre
mi di stampa tradizionale nei prossimi 5 anni. Un trend
tutte le necessità di prestampa, gestione del colore e della
in parte imputabile al cambio di abitudini dei cittadini
qualità, la stampa digitale di piccolo e di grande formato, le
europei. Si legge sempre di più in digitale (tablet, smart-
teste inkjet ad alta produttività e qualità, gli inchiostri inkjet dedicati e molto altro. L’assortimento è in relazione ai segmenti di mercato dove vogliamo essere protago-
What is the customer asking: can you make a comparison at European level? “The economic situation in Europe, and more precisely the Italian one, requires the utmost care in three main business areas: control of production costs, continuous improvement of efficiency, development of marketing and sales. Traditionally, European companies have a different organizational dimension from the typical Italian printing company, which will have to learn, or at least continue to compete in this area. Globalization requires to operate beyond the traditional boundaries (provincial or regional) of many Italian companies, and to work on national and international scale. Italian companies would be free to increase their competitiveness, that is to have the ability to invest and work with acceptable costs and similar to those supported by main European competitors. Our companies do not lack spirit of innovation, production efficiency, marketing strategies, flexibility and a pinch of intuition needed to compete in the international arena. If they
8 CONVERTER & Cartotecnica
managed at the same cost to structure themselves better, they could become more than competitive in the European context”. From strategies to products, how are you facing the market? “Agfa Graphics has the objective and the desire to be the preferred partner for printing industry. We pursue this goal with our product range, which covers all prepress needs, color and quality management, digital printing in small and large format, high productivity and quality inkjet heads, dedicated inkjet inks and much more. The assortment is in relation to the market segments where we want to be protagonists: commercial offset printing, newspapers and packaging printing, large format digital printing. The link among the many sectors in which we operate is the software, the spine of the companies that want to be successful. Software tools should help to automate and standardize, to reduce processing times without derogating from the company quality standards. Agfa Graphics is not acting as a “box mover”,
but it is a consulting partner that allows and encourages continuous growth from the point of view of production and profitability of profit margins”. Technological evolution is optimizing/enhancing, in other words changing your industry: which kind of printing technique will have more importance? “Large format digital printing will have a big impact on graphic industry. Forecasts for the European market announce a 25% decrease in volume of traditional printing in the next 5 years. This trend is partly due to the change of habits of Europeans. People is reading more and more using digital tools (tablets, smartphones and computers) and communication (business to business, business to consumer and private) is now shifted on the web. But outdoor communication is increasing, the greatest development for the coming years will be in this direction. Even the indoor communication will play its role, through multisensory media for retail
stores, interior architecture and decoration”. How do you differentiate your products to scoop the competition? “Nowadays, it is increasingly difficult to scoop the competition. Marketing and intelligence fall into the mindset and strategies of all multinationals. Agfa Graphics is focusing on R&D to introduce new technologies that are able to make working easier and more profitable for customers. A very important factor is the protection of discoveries through patents registration”. In which terms is Agfa expressing its innovation strength? The real innovation lies in new procedures to make still known products, but in a more efficient way or in new procedures to realize new products. R&D should aim at these targets, with a maximum level of attention to the environment. All new products Agfa Graphics have this feature in common, they are sustainable for the planet and for people who must use them.