Home News Cavelti’s business expansion accelerates with Konica Minolta partnership

Cavelti’s business expansion accelerates with Konica Minolta partnership

Langenhagen, Germany | 6 October 2022

Konica Minolta award-winning print production technology, comprehensive business development support and software have become key pillars in Cavelti’s move into becoming a full-service provider of integrated communications where digital print volumes continue to grow. Fast-changing markets demanding flexibility to cope with increased pressures on short-run jobs and faster turnarounds are among crucial business drivers for family owned and managed Cavelti.

The innovative media company has invested in Konica Minolta’s AccurioJet KM-1e UV inkjet sheetfed production press and AccurioPress C14000 flagship high-speed toner press – both recent award winners following extensive Buyers’ Laboratory International (BLI) testing - as part of a focus shift towards digital production capabilities at its premises in Gossau, St Gallen, Switzerland.

Live demonstrations at other Konica Minolta customer sites, the huge flexibility offered on substrates, the easy path into finishing solutions and the introduction of new applications were also important factors that sparked a change of business strategy to grow digital production even faster for Cavelti. A crucial advantage was the B2+ sheet size offered by the Konica Minolta AccurioJet KM-1e, which matched the post-press structure already in place.

Other benefits were no wrinkling, no drying time required, and high-quality inkjet production, particularly for clear colours in terms of orange and purpose that needed to stand out and could be produced on the normal four-colour gamut on the AccurioJet KM-1e. In addition, no special substrates are required on paper weights from 60gsm up to 600 gsm with jobs printed one after the other with all different papers.

Cavelti, which has developed over the past 140 years from a newspaper publisher and traditional book printing company into a full-service provider for integrated communication, carried out comprehensive market evaluations before opting for Konica Minolta as a preferred partner for digital printing to take Cavelti beyond print and expansion into cross-media services. The sale and installation were completed through Graphax AG, Konica Minolta’s exclusive service provider partner in Switzerland.

Konica Minolta’s wide-ranging expertise also led to the second investment in its digital production technology – the AccurioPress C14000. Launched less than three years ago, the toner press prints at 140 pages per minute (ppm) and is faster than any other toner-based machine from Konica Minolta. Together with the AccurioPress C12000, a second model in the series that has a speed of 120 ppm, the award-winning flagship production presses were then Konica Minolta’s first foray into the high-volume toner printing segment. The AccurioPress C14000 has also achieved TÜV Rheinland’s proof criteria for toy testing.

“Communication is our world,” said Claudio Cavelti, Managing Director of Cavelti AG. “It is an essential part of the overall corporate strategy where we attach great importance to the fact that all communication channels that you use for your brand and your company are part of an integrated communication strategy. Our project teams consist of professionals from the fields of consulting, conception, content, digital marketing, creation, publishing and print production.

“Dynamism and flexibility are part of our DNA. The world of communication is changing rapidly – and Konica Minolta is an important partner as we help our customers to master this challenge.”

Claudio Cavelti

Managing Director of Cavelti AG

Pre-pandemic, around 10% of Cavelti’s volume output was digital printing and is growing steadily. Mr Cavelti said that although it is difficult to make long-term future digital print forecasts for his business, he believes digital will represent between 30 and 40% of overall print volumes within five years.

Hidetoshi Omo, Head of Center of Competence, KM-1e at Konica Minolta Business Solutions Europe, said: “The deeper into the discussions through Graphax, the more interested Cavelti became in our products, especially when they saw the enormous range of applications provided by our technology, particularly our AccurioJet KM-1e that is recognised as the ‘Swiss army knife of printing’ because it has so many uses. We are delighted to have become a sole digital supplier for its digital production.

“We pride ourselves on building long-lasting, meaningful partnerships with customers such as Cavelti as we continue our growth path in commercial and industrial markets.

“Both the the AccurioJet KM-1e and AccurioPress C14000 are key pillars in our strategy to help our customers rethink creativity. We want to help them shape and seize the many new opportunities digitalisation brings along, supporting the trend to switch from offset to inkjet printing.”

Boilerplate

About Konica Minolta Business Solutions Europe

Konica Minolta Business Solutions Europe GmbH, based in Langenhagen, Germany, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Konica Minolta Inc., Tokyo, Japan. With its unique expertise in imaging, data processing and data-based decision making, Konica Minolta creates relevant solutions for its customers - small and medium-sized businesses, large enterprises and public sector - and solves issues faced by society.

As a digital workplace solution provider, Konica Minolta helps its clients to identify and unlock the potential digitalisation holds and reach the next level in the digital maturity of their organisation by rethinking the workplace. In support of an ‘Intelligent connected workplace’, Konica Minolta offers cloud, IT, managed print and video solution services for remote working, collaboration, workflow management and automation and security. The company’s success in driving transformation is also confirmed by IDC, since the ‘IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Print Transformation 2023 Vendor Assessment’ has named Konica Minolta a “Leader” in print transformation. Konica Minolta has been a Microsoft Global Managed Partner since 2021.

Konica Minolta's Igniting Print Possibilities offering helps printers, converters and brand owners maximise workflow automation to increase efficiency. The company delivers consultancy in all communication matters as well as top-of-the-line production, packaging as well as label printers. Its finishing devices create print products that stand out and create added value. Konica Minolta has established itself as the production printing market leader for more than a decade in Europe (InfoSource).

For an increasing number of organisations, success today is more than the narrow definition of financial prosperity – it also includes protecting the environment and having a positive impact on their workforce as well as the societies they are embedded in. With its commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Konica Minolta has pledged to consistently pursue its sustainability and social responsibility goals.

The company has been repeatedly recognised for its rich history of social contribution as well as for working towards achieving the SDGs throughout its business and supply chain. Konica Minolta received a GOLD Level Recognition Medal in the EcoVadis sustainability ratings for 2023.

For its remote services, Konica Minolta was awarded the prestigious ‘Buyers Lab (BLI) 2023-2024 Pacesetter Award in Remote Service for the Western European market’ from Keypoint Intelligence.

Konica Minolta Business Solutions Europe is represented by subsidiaries and distributors in more than 80 countries in Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa. With more than 8,700 employees (as of April 2023), Konica Minolta Europe earned net sales of over EUR 2.26 billion in financial year 2022/2023.

Worldwide, the company has over 39,000 employees and is operating in over 150 countries.

For more information, please visit https://www.konicaminolta.eu/eu-en/news and follow Konica Minolta on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

Terms and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders and are hereby acknowledged.

Contact

Silke Ehmann-Cotichini

Team Manager Brand Positioning & Architecture, Content Strategy & Development

Konica Minolta Business Solutions Europe GmbH

Silke.Ehmann-Cotichini@konicaminolta.eu

+49 (0) 511 7404-5604