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FULL STORY
A very Happy New Year to you and your family and colleagues, and welcome to 2012. It not only marks the beginning of a new year, but also the end of a very painful year filled with financial uncertainty. I hope you will join with me in addressing the new challenges which will take us forward
in this landmark drupa year.
I also hope the demise of Manroland will be resolved positively before the end of this month, too, especially for its 6,500 employees around the globe and particularly those in Germany, where some 5,000 are affected. It’s not
a good time to have to contemplate unemployment. Adminisatrator Werner Schneider is to continue negotiations with potential buyers during this coming week.
I also look forward to seeing how recent and upcoming alliances and acquisitions are going to work out. I am sure we shall witness even more as this new year progresses, with many of them, hopefully set to strengthen our major industry players for the long term.
There is a bright future for print and especially for printed paper as the most sustainable, environmentally-friendly, and renewable resource we have on this planet, and demand will continue to grow; but the industry is changing rapidly and we have to learn to adapt with it – perhaps with a greater sense of urgency than has been witnessed thus far in many areas.
With just 122 days to go before drupa 2012 opens in Dusseldorf, we don’t have too long to wait to observe the results of the changes that have already taken place, as we head towards a much fitter and leaner industry which has seen many casualties along the way during this past year. I really hope that drupa 2012 will signal a new and positive turning-point.
With my best wishes,
Mike Hilton
Graphic Repro On-line, 1 January 2012
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