WhatTheyThink Visits Online Printers

WhatTheyThink in cooperation with INKISH.TV was recently invited to visit Onlineprinters in Neustadt an der Aisch in Germany. Onlineprinters is one of the three biggest onlineprinters in Europe with a annual revenue exceeding 233 million dollars. The company was founded in 1984 as a quite regular printing company. In 2004 they sold their first online order and from then growth has been amazing. 

Double-digit growth year after year and eventually acquisitions also has become part of the growth path. Recently Onlineprinters acquired Solopress in the UK and Lasertryk in Scandinavia and even more amazing was a statement released from them just a few weeks ago stating that the company has reached customer number one million.

All the numbers and all the amazing facts have of course led to an interest from not only the industry but also from investors.  The owners of Onlineprinters today is the founder Walter Meyer, Bregan Unternehmerkapital, Project A and the original founders of both Solopress and Lasertryk. 

WhatTheyThink was invited together with 15 other members of the press as the only American media represented through our correspondent Morten Reitoft from INKISH.TV and we have made both a film plus this article.

From an American perspective, Onlineprinters is interesting for multiple reasons. Onlineprinters told us during the two days event that shipping time to the US East Coast is sometimes even faster than deliveries within some parts of Europe. That alone is, of course, interesting since the same MUST apply for American printing companies interested in selling in Europe. However, we at WhatTheyThink, of course, can only speculate over cost and bureaucracy, custom handling, and other things that have to be handled. The second reason why we believe the story of Onlineprinters is interesting is the fact that print has become truly global. Book publishers have for your years been printing in Asia but when even commodity print is feasible on these distances it will give globalization a new dimension.

In the interview we ask CEO Dr. Michael Fries from Onlineprinters whether Onlineprinters should be feared or embraced and in his opinion what online printing companies do today is just another step in the direction comparable to a lot of other industries and therefore a business opportunity for printers more than a threat.

With 183 offset printing units, several Indigo's and a strong partnership with Horizon the visit showcased a tremendously efficient printing company and just the fact that Onlineprinters handle 5.000+ orders a day indicate both volumes and being in control. 

It was great being there. 

Onlineprinters paid for the travel, food and hotel cost.