Seven years after stepping up as manroland managing director, industry veteran Steve Dunwell is set to retire from print, after a 40-year history serving the industry.

The manroland Australasia boss will depart from his role in February, sheetfed manager Dennis Wickham will be appointed as Dunwell’s replacement. The management changes at manroland will also see former web-fed services manager Andreas Schwoepfinger as the new director of technical services as current service director Graham Wickham is also retiring.

According to manroland, Dunwell is retiring in a high note after logging some $20m worth of orders for 2017, including a new $12m Rotoman to Blue Star Web ensuring his successor Wickham is well equipped to continue the group’s consistent growth.

Dunwell assumed the role as MD at manroland during a challenging time – in 2009 economic conditions were tough at best and the supplier had just lost its agreement with MAN Ferrostaal Australia before setting up its own local offices across the Asia Pacific. Two years later the parent company went broke. It was then split in two and was sold to German (web) and UK (sheetfed) owners. Since then both sides have managed to get themselves back in the black, with the Australasian arm among the better performing businesses around the world.

Dunwell joined manroland after a six-year tenure at Currie Group as NSW manager, prior to that he spent more than 20 years in prepress sales, with his own company MediaTech and then at Creo, which bought Media Tech when it acquired Scitex.

Dunwell was responsible for bringing many industry-first technologies to Australia particularly in the prepress arena.

Dunwell’s time at manroland will be celebrated at an official retirement party titled The End of an Era in February, held at the Banjo Patterson Cottage Restaurant in Gladesville, Sydney. 

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