Founded in 1975 as book and offset printing company in Essen, Germany, druckpartner celebrates its fortieth anniversary this year. Founders are Karl-Heinz Böke, Winfried Funke and Günter Kirsten. As early as two years after their start, they moved for the first time, to a larger building. Shortly afterwards even more space was rented. In 1996, druckpartner already owned more than 4000 m² production space and 1000 m² office space. In 2014, they added another 1000 m² of production space.
Druckpartner started making digital prints in September 2008, as secondary foothold next to classical offset printing. An Avalon N8-50 S platesetter Agfa Graphics was installed in November.
From the very start, it was the company’s goal to perform above average – with absolute commitment, state-of-the-art technology and the highest quality. They succeeded, witness the fact that druckpartner employs more than 140 people today and is a full-service print provider. Personal customer contacts to discuss print jobs are inscribed in druckpartner’s corporate values, in order to achieve optimal customer satisfaction.
The motivated employees also contribute to the success of the company. Innovation and attention to trends are highly valued characteristics at druckpartner, as the sector is constantly subject to changes. Oscar Wilde already knew it: “The ordinary gives the world its existence, the extraordinary its value.” Looking at the website of the company, the ‘news’ section stands out as it features numerous awards which were handed to the company and reflect the quality of its work.
From the very beginning, for over more than forty years, druckpartner has been one of Agfa Graphics’ most loyal customers. Apart from the CtP system Avalon N8-50 S and the SC125 platesetter it also uses Agfa Graphics’ workflow solution Apogee. In July 2014, druckpartner switched to Azura TU printing plates. Reason was the reduced maintenance of Azura TU and the cost reduction that came with it. At the same time, jobs could be handled quicker, which speeded up production. Druckpartner also values the ecological advantages: Azura uses no chemistry and hardly any water. The high resolution of the plates results in sharp image contrast, even with Sublima screening up to 240 lpi.
Mr Florian, Managing Director druckpartner, describes the partnership with Agfa Graphics: “We look back on forty years of confident cooperation. The switch to the ‘green’ Azura TU has enabled us to clearly improve the processes in our prepress operations.”
In 2014 the Azura printing plate celebrated its tenth anniversary. Agfa Graphics handed druckpartner a cake to the occasion. Mr Florian said: “For me, Azura is the only functioning processless printing plate.”