Currie Group picks up Fujikura agency

High-profile printing blanket agency kick starts the expansion of Currie's consumables division.

The acquisition of the well-known Fujikura brand is part of a strategy to develop the Currie Group into a complete solutions provider to the printing industry. Already recognised for its wide range of presses and finishing equipment as well as its printing plates and chemistry supplies, the Group now is able to offer a one-stop-shop for all products. With its solid reputation for reliability and consistency the Japanese-made product blanket product fits in very well with the overall ink and chemistry portfolio of the Group.

"We've been looking for the right product to complete our line up and Fujikura is a well established brand that has the track record we're looking for," said Andrew Matthews, national sales manager consumables. "There are not too many brands that have been around for as long as Fujikura, which shows it is a solid, reliable blanket that printers appreciate."

The Fujikura printing blanket product range has been in the market since 1957.  It has a solid user base throughout the Australian and New Zealand graphic arts industries on both sheetfed and web presses. John Shalvey, national consumables manager, emphasizes that with the new structure existing customers will be better off with the in-depth Currie Group's experience and service structure.

"We have over 800 printing press units out there and our engineers are experienced in servicing all types of printing markets," he said. "We intend to make significant inroads into the industry now that we have such a high-quality printing blanket that can deliver consistency and reliability."

The Currie Group will expand the selection of Fujikura printing blankets available to the market, including the introduction of heatset and coldset web blankets. The ability to offer a complete solutions package not only to the Currie Group's traditional large small- to medium-size offset market but also to A1 printers is expected to set off a dramatic shift in the industry supply dynamics.

The Fujikura product is compatible with many of the Japanese product lines that are the foundation of the Currie Group's success; Shinohara and Horizon on the hardware side along with T&K Toka and Megami inks, Mitsubishi plates, Nikken chemistry in the consumables portfolio. With a new and invigorated supply side Fujikura is set to become even better known to the local market.