Trelleborg opens up new distributor channels for printing blankets

Trelleborg Printing Blankets, a product area within Trelleborg Engineered Systems, itself a business area of the Trelleborg Group, has announced a swathe of new distribution arrangements in Europe for Vulcan and Rollin printing blankets following manroland AG’s insolvency declaration.

In the UK, the Vulcan business has been divided across two distributors, with BSF looking after the heatset and web solutions, alongside the Rollin series of blankets, which it has been distributing since 1995. Stehlin Hostag Ink will take responsibility for sheet-fed products.

In Germany, Streb Gmbh will handle both the Vulcan and Rollin brands, as in Switzerland, where Chromos AG will handle both the Vulcan and Rollin brands. Similarly in Norway, Luth Gruppen AS will handle both the Vulcan and Rollin brands.

A full list of new distributor channels replacing manroland marketing companies in the UK, Switzerland, Germany and Norway, can be found here.

Thomas Linkenheil, managing director of Trelleborg Printing Blankets, said: ‘We are pleased to announce that we now have new distributor channels set up in the UK, Germany, Switzerland and Norway, and would like to reassure our customers that we are doing everything in our power to ensure that all Trelleborg products are supplied in a timely and efficient manner.

‘We have dedicated additional resources to support all Rollin and Vulcan customers previously served by manroland/Printcom distributors following the unfortunate news that in late 2011, manroland AG declared insolvency. In addition, with many of its marketing companies subsequently falling into administration, we feel that there has been an air of uncertainty across the printing industry as supply levels dropped due to the lack of resolution.

‘While we have so far not faced supply problems, as a leading manufacturer of high-quality printing blankets, Trelleborg’s top priority is to ensure seamless supply of its product across all segments of Trelleborg users.

‘As such, these new distributors and sales channels have now been set up to ensure service levels are guaranteed. For those customers who are sourcing through new dealers, we will continue to pledge our full assistance if required. However, should any supply issues unexpectedly occur, we would like to advise our customers to contact us directly.’