Offset Printing

Machinery manufacturer Kama targets new markets

Tuesday 17. September 2013 - At home in the niche all over the world

Interview with Marcus Tralau
Mr. Tralau is the CEO of Kama GmbH. This Dresden-based company manufactures machines for post-print and finishing, e.g., finishing die-cutters, automated stamping/embossing machines or folding and glueing machines.
Mr. Tralau, the triumphal march of tablet computers and smart phones causes a decline as far as graphic papers are concerned. Many printing houses have given up already. Does this result in a collapse of your customer base?
Marcus Tralau: Our machines are designed especially for short and medium runs in the commercial printing sector. With that, we traditionally address medium-sized printing houses. We notice indeed that part of this market no longer exists for us. On the other hand, the present situation is such that many printing houses wish to make themselves stand out with products of a higher print finishing level. This is the point where we come into play again.
Does this offset the decline in your traditional business?
Tralau: No, we sell less in the traditional markets. But we more than offset this decline with other regions in the world. South America and Asia, and there above all China, are the new growth markets for us. 2012 was by far the best business year in our history. At present, our order books are well-filled.
When thinking of China, always extraordinarily long print runs spring to mind, not those that Kama has specialised in.
Tralau: China is a huge market, but the number of printing houses is lower than in Germany. On the other hand, however, the individual printing houses are much bigger. Nevertheless, our versatile machines for short and medium runs are in high demand in China as well. Typical examples are greeting cards or tickets with a special contour, embossing or finishing touch. Or folders with glued-in inside pockets for a brochure or a CD and similar things. Such products are always needed everywhere in business life. For such purposes, Kama offers the suitable die-cutting, stamping/embossing, folding and glueing machines.
Is there a crowding-out competition among the manufacturers of post-print machines?
Tralau: No, we don’t have that feeling. The German engineering industry is well known for being an industry with many small companies which have conquered a market niche and are globally leading in this niche. This also applies to Kama. We occupy the niche of versatile post-print and finishing machines for short and medium commercial print runs. We are alone in this niche. So there is no crowd and no crowding-out.
Many companies of the printing industry have set their sights on the packaging industry as a new target market. But not Kama?
Tralau: Previously, this industry was not our target market. But that is changing now. We see a large strategic potential in the packaging segment. It is not true that always only huge quantities matter in this industry. For packaging, too, there is a trend to individualisation and, as a result, shorter runs. Together with Heidelberger Druckmaschinen, we just received a packaging printing order from the pharmaceutical industry in Spain which is for medium runs. At present, packaging accounts for about 25 percent of our sales. Our target is to increase this share to 50 percent.
You also offer your machines on the Internet. With what measure of success?
Tralau: We still haven’t sold any machines via our web shop. With our machines, expert advice is still very important. Our products are, after all, not a small investment for the customer. Nearly every customer is in direct contact with us. Therefore, the web shop is above all an additional means for making contacts. From this perspective, it is more a marketing tool rather than a marketing channel. What we do sell via the web shop, however, is accessories, spare parts and consumables.
We carry out our sales activities world-wide indirectly either via independent sales organisations or in co-operation with the big printing technology manufacturers.
We are just before the parliamentary elections 2013. What would you wish for if you had one wish?
Tralau: Less bureaucracy. But I don’t think that I will live to see that.
At a glance:
Kama looks back on more than one hundred years of mechanical engineering. Founded in 1894 as Sächsische Cartonnagen-Maschinen-Actiengesellschaft SCAMAG, the company was re-established in 1994 after the reunification of Germany by Marcus Tralau and two other partners. In the record year of 2012, Kama made sales amounting to twelve million euros. 80 percent of the machines were exported. Kama employs slightly more than 100 staff at the only location of the company in Dresden.