Left-Right - Sarepco directors Jacques Koekemoer, Yvette Dietrich and Paul Bouwer have partnered with Sarepco to strengthen the company’s international distribution network
As part of GEW’songoing program to strengthen its international distribution network, the company has announced the appointment of Sarepcoas its key distributor in South Africa. GEW’sNilpeter and ABG International business will continue to be managed by CSM Print Services, while Sarepco will handle all other businesses in the country. This became effective from 1 January 2022.
Sarepco operates from a head office and showroom facility in Midrand, Johannesburg. The company has built a solid reputation since its three directors founded it in 2001, and the 12-strong team there is renowned for their specialist expertise in label and narrow web printing. Representing several major global brands, including Mark Andy and Rotoflex, Sarepco is an established pillar of the web printing industry in South Africa.
Sarepco to hold GEW’s spare parts and consumables
Paul Bouwer, sales director at the company, comments on the new partnership, “Although GEW and Sarepco have worked together in some capacity for over 20 years, the new arrangements will see us taking over exclusive responsibility for our areas of GEW’s business in South Africa. Our salespeople and our service technicians are highly experienced in working with GEW systems, and so the next step will be a seamless progression.”
Sarepco will hold stock of all essential GEW spare parts and consumables locally in South Africa to avoid any possible importation delays. David Lyus, International sales manager at the company, explains, “Sarepco has a team of experienced technicians dedicated to supporting GEW systems across the country. Combining this with a good level of spares stock being held in Johannesburg, our customers can now expect an even faster and more responsive level of service.”
Company’s managing director of sales, Robert Rae, comments, “LED adoption is growing steadily in South Africa, and GEW is excited to work with Sarepco to transition this market. With energy costs rising and GEW’s innovative and cost-effective new range of LED products bringing a step change in press productivity, we look forward to working with Sarepco in promoting and demonstrating the benefits of this now critical technology to our customers in South Africa.”
Rae concludes, “This newly expanded relationship simplifies GEW’s distribution network for our customers in South Africa, as we move into a new era for the UV curing industry.”
2023 promises an interesting ride for print in India
Indian Printer and Publisher founded in 1979 is the oldest B2B trade publication in the multi-platform and
multi-channel IPPGroup. While the print and packaging industries have been resilient in the past 33 months since the pandemic lockdown of 25 March 2020, the commercial printing and newspaper industries have yet to recover their pre-Covid trajectory.
The fragmented commercial printing industry faces substantial challenges as does the newspaper industry.
While digital short-run printing and the signage industry seem to be recovering a bit faster, ultimately
their growth will also be moderated by the progress of the overall economy. On the other hand book
printing exports are doing well but they too face several supply-chain and logistics challenges.
The price of publication papers including newsprint has been high in the past year while availability is diminished by several mills shutting down their publication paper and newsprint machines in the past four years. Indian paper mills are also exporting many types of paper and have raised prices for Indian printers. To some extent, this has helped in the recovery of the digital printing industry with its on-demand short-run and low-wastage paradigm.
Ultimately digital print and other digital channels will help print grow in a country where we are still far behind in our paper and print consumption and where digital is a leapfrog technology that will only increase the demand for print in the foreseeable future. For instance, there is no alternative to a rise in textbook consumption but this segment will only reach normality in the next financial year beginning on 1 April 2023.
Thus while the new normal is a moving target and many commercial printers look to diversification, we believe that our target audiences may shift and change. Like them, we will also have to adapt with agility to keep up with their business and technical information needs.
Our 2023 media kit is ready, and it is the right time to take stock and reconnect with your potential markets and customers. Print is the glue for the growth of liberal education, new industry, and an emerging economy. We seek your participation in what promises to be an interesting ride.
