Overcoming an Unimagined Challenge by Arik Gordon, CEO Landanano
We began 2020 with a buzz of activity, excitement and action ahead of what was supposed to be a Drupa year – usually one packed with activity.
But impossible to have foreseen, 2020 turned out to be exceptionally challenging! At Landa Digital Printing, as for the rest of the industry and indeed the entire world, things came to an abrupt halt. But despite the initial disruption to our plans, we quickly regrouped, assessed the new conditions, weighed up our options, and adapted our actions, customer support and service activities, and communication with our customers and community.
Of course, in the short term the epidemic had a major impact on our installations which normally require travel of teams from our headquarters to the field. Around August, travel restrictions were eased and I’m pleased to say that we were back to normal and able to carry on with our installation plans with the support of our teams in the field. I’d say that one of the benefits that has emerged from this period, is that our local teams are much more empowered and independent these days, and in general this is the direction we want to be able to take, especially as we keep growing our installed base. Also in terms of the production levels of our customers, we saw some declines in printed sheets, but we are now seeing healthy productivity levels and real business growth.
Throughout the epidemic, keeping in touch with the print community was a priority. We adopted all the latest online communication tools to stay connected. We organized multiple “Landa Live” series of print demos in which we continued to provide information about our game-changing technology and presses to enable customers to continue exploring the applicability of our offerings for their businesses.
Summing up this period, while Covid-19 continues to be a challenge, I can’t think of one situation where the talented, professional team at Landa Digital Printing wasn’t able to find a solution, so I expect us to emerge stronger on the other side.
Landa Customer Growth
In this past year we have seen an increased realization and a new awareness of the power of mass customization, both for commercial printing and especially for packaging. The need for a flexible production solution has become clear and has grown. Landa’s Nanography® technology is an extremely flexible solution: we have a B1/41 in. format, we have offset quality, we have a very wide color gamut and we can print on virtually any substrate. This is reflected across our installed base and in the ways our customers are using the press.
Over 2020, despite the odds, our installed base grew considerably. I’m very happy to say that as we enter a new year, Landa customers around the globe are experiencing real page volume growth and are realizing real digital value from their Nanographic Printing® presses: short runs, fast turnaround and delivery times, versioning, downstream finishing efficiency.
Our customers in China, Europe, Israel, the US, and Mexico are printing more pages, producing new types of applications and offering new services to their own customers. This is testament to the improved reliability, stability and consistency of our presses. We clearly have a production-ready solution that addresses important market needs and trends. In fact, some of our customers are already engaged in discussions with us about buying a second press.
2021 and Beyond
Adapting to the new world that Covid-19 has brought us, has challenged us to the max! But we will not rest in 2021. We have found new ways to operate, and I have to say that from conversations with our customers who are positive about the future, I’m very optimistic.
This crisis has taught us that the new normal will be much more digital than the old: more online shopping, more home deliveries, more online meetings in place of business travel, and an increased need for fast turnaround and flexible manufacturing. This has far reaching, very positive ramifications for the digital printing industry.
2021 is a new year, opening up fresh possibilities and new opportunities for us all. We look forward to more and more customers joining the Landa family.
I wish you and your families a safe, healthy, happy, successful, faNANOtastic! new year as together we continue to find a way to overcome a complex reality, to beat all obstacles in our path, and to resolutely achieve new and bolder goals, and to make our mark on the industry to which we all belong.
www.landanano.com
