As the turn of the year approaches, Heidelberg is gaining three further suppliers for its independent industry platform Zaikio.
With the addition of Streb, Richter & Menzel, and iQIP, Zaikio is boosting the options for print shops that are looking to order materials via Zaikio Procurement. All being well, customers will also be able to use the platform to order everything from printing blankets, coating plates, and special blankets to print finishing (postpress) consumables and proofing papers before the end of the year.
Zaikio Procurement makes purchasing materials easier for print shops. Procurement staff can check the availability and specific prices of their materials and order them directly on a single platform. By giving print shops access to their portfolios, stock levels, and prices, the participating suppliers themselves also save a great deal of time when it comes to order processing. Management information system (MIS) providers can obtain easy access to the platform, too, which means print shops can place orders directly from their centralised MIS.
“We firmly believe that Zaikio will play a key role in the industry’s further digitization in the future, so it was a must for us to join the platform early on,” says Jörg Richter, Managing Director of Richter & Menzel.
In parallel to its market penetration in German-speaking countries, Zaikio is also actively working on internationalisation. A few months ago, for instance, it introduced Premier Paper – one of the UK’s leading paper suppliers – as a new partner.
“We’re already in discussions with further suppliers throughout Europe. Our goal is to establish Zaikio Procurement as the go-to procurement platform for the entire European printing industry,” explains Rainer Hundsdörfer, CEO, Heidelberg.
There’s plenty of added value for suppliers, too. Direct access to their portfolio and prices eliminates the need for a lot of phone calls and e-mail correspondence. Alexander Stangel, Sales Director at Streb AG, adds, “When it comes to supplying printing blankets for offset presses, we have long enjoyed a close and trusting partnership with Heidelberg. We are now digitizing Streb AG’s entire range by combining it on a single procurement platform, meaning we are able to offer our attractive portfolio to a wider circle of customers and users.”
