An end to the global agency agreements between manroland and MAN Ferrostaal has been on the cards from the moment the German pressmaker was floated as an independent company, separate from the broader interests of the MAN group, which still owns MAN Ferrostaal (writes Peter Coleman). Signs of an impending split came with the appointment of Dietmar Zutt as the manroland delegate in Sydney in 2007, and of factory-nominated team members to a service team in the city. manroland Web Services Australia was established as a partnership between the two soon after, strengthening support for newspaper and commercial web customers in the area, and now coordinates a team of 17 specialists under managing director Graham Wickham. With the announcement that MAN Ferrostaal will cease be the exclusive agent for manroland presses from September, it can be expected that this operation will be the nucleus of the press maker’s direct presence. For the time being, the parties say it’s “business as usual”. Markus Haefeli, managing director of MAN Ferrostaal Australia, says the decision marks the end of a long and successful partnership in the region. “MAN Ferrostaal will be focusing on those markets where we have a track record of success such as packaging with the Bobst agency as well as prepress and print finishing with the likes of MBO, Kolbus and Palamides. “We will also be concentrating major resources on our consumables service which includes name top brands such as Kodak and Lüscher amongst others. Our goal is to ensure that our customers receive the best possible deals and first class service regardless of the type of press they are running.” The association with MAN Ferrostaal dates back to its origins as Intergrafica Print & Pack and before that, Print and Pack Australia which had been first partner and then successor of Ron Craven’s Craven Engineering Services (as Craven Print & Pack) which had held the agency in the 1980s. manroland says it will establish a direct presence in those markets currently serviced by MAN Ferrostaal – primarily south-east Asia, South America and the Pacific region, including Australia and New Zealand. While MAN Ferrostaal recently lost the Indian Manugraph single-width press agency locally to NZ-hedquarted Webco, it is understood to be looking for a replacement press in this segment, probably from the USA. MAN Ferrostaal continues to represent Manugraph in a number of other markets.