North Americans in Germany: Relationships Made

By Ed Avis

            Relationships are key to any successful business, and the group of APDSP members from the U.S. and Canada who visited Germany the week of April 9 established many new relationships.

            The group included Tony Militano from Carbon Copy Digital in Calgary; Lisa Tipps from

Dynamic Reprographics in Austin; John Lipari and Susan Heffernan from Plan & Print Systems in Syracuse; and APDSP Managing Director Ed Avis from Chicago.

            The connections began on Thursday, April 12, when the group visited two reprographics/digital print shops in Frankfort. The first stop was to Druckriegel GmbH, a digital print shop operated by Frank Ruckriegel. There the North Americans saw how the company leverages its technological edge to serve a number of corporate clients. They also enjoyed a lunch of regional specialties.

            The second stop was to Irmschler GmbH, and more traditional reprographics shop with a history dating back to the 1940s. Owner Michael Irmschler discussed some differences between his business and U.S. repro firms, such as the importance of folding documents. (Click here to read more about these visits.)

Motio Convention

            The annual convention of motio, the German reprographics association, opened on Friday in Mainz, a university town west of Frankfort. The event, held in Atrium Hotel, included a trade show and two days of educational seminars.

            One seminar was led by Horst Zuse, son of Konrad Zuse, who invented the modern

computer and the first plotter. Zuse’s presentation included a number of videos of his father’s invention in the early days, and production factories later. The Zuse Company lasted until 1964, but the impact of his invention continues. After the presentation, Horst sat with the North Americans and answered questions, in English, about his father’s business.

            Another interesting session was presented by Emitis Pohl, who emigrated to Germany from Iran as a teenager and eventually developed her own marketing communications firm. Pohl described the important role printed materials still provide in marketing, encouraging attendees who have seen their print volumes plummet.

            More traditional reprographics issues were also covered. In a panel discussion on the second day of the event, three industry professionals discussed the future of Building Information Management and digital document management, and the role of paper documents in that world.

Trade Show

            The trade show included exhibits from many well known imaging firms, ranging from

KIP to Canon to Image Access, which showed its WideTEK 48 scanner. Roth + Weber, which has a growing U.S. presence but which still is primarily distributed in Europe, showed its ROWE Scan 850i large-format scanner. Some of the exhibitors were less familiar to the North Americans, such as Zeutschel, which exhibited its Scansystem OS 15000 book scanner; and Richter & Menzel, which demonstrated a inline hard- and soft-cover binder.

            Es-Te Folding Systems demonstrated its totally redesigned print folder for the first time. The newest folder, estefold 3011, is designed to be more robust but also 25 percent less expensive than existing models. It was 12 years in development, and will bring top folding performance for medium-sized color printers. (Click here for more information.)

Party Time, Tour Time

            On Friday evening, the networking continued as the North Americans joined the Germans at a reception and buffet dinner at the Pyramid Mainz, a glass-topped reception hal

l. Conversations between the Germans and the APDSP members ranged widely from their varied experiences in reprographics to their worldwide travel experiences. Delicious German food, beer and wine fueled the networking.

            On Saturday, the APDSP members joined a group of Germans for a tour of Mainz. The English-speaking tour guide explained that Mainz was a military center for centuries, due to its location on the intersection of the Main and Rhine rivers. The group also learned about Gutenberg, who invented moveable type, and toured the enormous cathedral. After the tour, the APDSP group enjoyed lunch and drinks in a sun-filled outdoor café.

            Sunday the tour moved to the community surrounding Oestrich-Winkel, home of motio Executive Director Achim Carius and his wife Anette. The Carius family graciously entertained the North Americans in their home, and then escorted them on a tour of the region that included a boat ride on the Rhine, a gondola ride through the vineyards to the famous Germania statue, and a visit to a castle that now houses a famous winery.

            The group ended the weekend with dinner at Weingut Hamm, a winery and restaurant just blocks from the Carius’ home. At Weingut Hamm the group toured the wine cellar courtesy of Aurelia Hamm, the Hamm family winemaker and a former area “wine princess.”

            The location of the 2019 meeting of motio has not yet been confirmed, but stay tuned for information.