Roularta makes replacement investment with new, ecologically efficient rotary printing press to resolve printing capacity deficit

Roularta Media Group is investing in a new, state-of-the-art Lithoman IV 72 page printing press. This new rotary press will replace the last old Mitsubishi 48 page machine, which means that its machinery has now been completely renewed. Roularta Media Group already has two similar printing presses with extremely high print quality to create magazines and catalogues. These three similar presses will create optimal flexibility thanks to the opportunity to exchange print jobs, components and staff between them. This new machine represents a capacity equivalent to approximately 10% of the Belgium magazine market.
 
 Roularta has been paying particular attention to sustainable business and corporate social responsibility (CSO) for years. This means that ecologically efficient production and an eye for environmental technologies are the absolute bottom line. For every new project, Roularta tries to implement these facets as much as possible and thus keep the ecological footprint of its own organisation and its products as small as possible. For more information about this, please refer to our sustainability reports that can be found on the website www.roularta.be.
 
This new Manroland Goss web systems printing press, with its substantially higher output, lower emissions and considerably reduced energy consumption, fits perfectly into this vision. What is more, the new installation does not require any extension to the production halls. This means that the extensive green area around the company, where many people enjoy walking, will remain a ‘green lung’ in the centre of Roeselare.
 
As part of the optimised energy management plan set down in the Energy Policy Agreement, solar panels are being installed on the production hall roofs. Roularta is also working to obtain its ISO 50001 certificate (use of the best available techniques coupled with efficient energy consumption), and will most probably receive certification by the end of 2019.
 
The long-term vision expressed in this investment will create significant employment in Roeselare and anchor the company in the local community. The total investment comes to 12 million euros and will become operational at the end of 2020. The magazine market is currently experiencing a shortage of printing capacity in the Benelux region, leading to normalisation in pricing. Roularta has already guaranteed most of this machine’s production capacity, partly thanks to multiple-year printing contracts with major European publishers (including the publishers of The Economist, Bloomberg Business Week, Margriet, Story, Humo and African Banker) and partly through its own magazines such as Knack, Le Vif, Trends, Sportmagazine, Libelle, Femmes d’Aujourd’hui, Feeling, GAEL, Plus Magazine etc.
 
 
The CEO, Xavier Bouckaert, explains:
 
"In a consolidating print sector with an increasing number of bankruptcies and print shop closures, the publishers of magazines, brochures and catalogues are searching for reliable, long-term printing partners more urgently than ever. Roularta currently has insufficient capacity to meet the great demand for its own titles and market demand. This investment will enable Roularta Printing to continue growing sustainably with the necessary attention to the environment".