MITSUBISHI IPEX 2010 BREAKING NEWS
IPEX NEWS
Mitsubishi Announce New Distributor Agreement
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd, together with its European subsidiary Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Europe – Printing Machinery Division, announced on the first day of the Ipex show details of a new press sales and service partnership agreement for the UK and Eire that has been signed with Surrey-based M Partners Ltd.
Mitsubishi has been without an official UK distributor since the demise of GAE and parent Litho Supplies at the end of 2009. The company employed a specialist consultancy to conduct research into a suitable strategic partner for the company to work with. Details of the agreement with M Partners were finalised in early May following a period of discussions. The announcement will take effect from June 1st, though M Partners and Mitsubishi are sharing a common stand at the IPEX event in hall 20, stand B630.
IPEX provides the ideal opportunity for M Partners and Mitsubishi to consult with customers and establish an appropriately expanded support programme. Mitsubishi aims to use IPEX as part of a much wider customer audit initiative that will form the basis for the strategic development of the company’s presence within the UK and Eire markets.
“We are delighted to be able to announce the formal relationship between ourselves and Mitsubishi,” said Murray Lock, Joint Managing Director of M Partners. “In the last two years printers have had to adapt to a changing market place. Mitsubishi believe suppliers can no longer continue to operate as they have in the past and will have to also change their business model if they are to grow. It is not sustainable or commercially rational to just continually cut back hoping business will return to the “old days”. I believe that we have the right business model to fit with this philosophy.”
M Partners, currently representing GUK folding and inserting equipment and Steinneman coating and laminating equipment, has built a strong reputation for quality service in a very short period of time, working with very demanding print groups and the major pharmaceutical companies. “It is important for us to establish service and support links with existing Mitsubishi customers, although the reliability of Mitsubishi products means that we cannot exist, like some press suppliers, on service revenues alone,” commented Murray Lock. “I am convinced that with M Partners support Mitsubishi can expand its UK presence, even in the difficult trading conditions that currently exist. We believe that we need to focus on providing a press and service package which equates to the lowest cost of ownership for a UK printing business,” he added.
For its part, Mitsubishi will wrap that concept up in its IPEX theme of “Net Production Nets Profit”, which provides an insight for visitors with regard to maximising press production time, minimising press downtime, and delivering high value-added printed products. Focus will be given to the Mitsubishi DIAMOND Colour Navigator, the 2009 PIA InterTech Technology Award winning system that implements colour adjustments simultaneously across all printing units to achieve the desired colour match. The company will also be discussing the latest developments for it LED UV drying product.
Following the exhibition, Mitsubishi is also committed to growing its European Headquarters in Leeds, which incorporates the European Technical Support and Spare Parts Centre, including the installation of the very latest DIAMOND V3000 high-speed B1 sheetfed demonstration machine. This facility will make it one of the few major press suppliers to support a dedicated showroom facility in the UK.
