Markus Haefeli, managing director of Komori distributor Ferrostaal Australia, said it was "a great shame" about Manroland, which filed for insolvency in Germany last Friday after negotiations with its investor broke down.

Haefeli, who had headed up MAN Ferrostaal when it was the local distributor for the German press brand, said the administration "demonstrates how fast-changing our industry is".

"It also clearly demonstrates to me how dangerous it is for these large corporations like Manroland, Koenig & Bauer, Komori and Heidelberg to have high-cost manufacturing resources when our customer base stops buying equipment."

Manroland is not the first press maker to enter administration in 2011, after Japanese manufacturer Shinohara entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection at the beginning of the year.

Haefeli told ProPrint that he expects Manroland will restructure and concentrate on the web heatset and coldset sectors.

"In Australia, Manroland sheetfed were always very strong in the packaging sector with their XXL format presses but were never really strong in the commercial sheetfed sector," he said.

"This space was always dominated by Heidelberg, Komori and some others. However, if Manroland does cease to be active in sheetfed, it will of course reduce suppliers by one and that will of course help [with overcapacity]."

Haefeli expressed his sympathies to Manroland's 6,600 staff, who would be having a "horrific time" dealing with the insolvency.

He said there would be no real winners out of crisis.

"Something like Manroland announcing insolvency can never have any positive sides to it. It is bad for our industry and sends further bad signals to the greater market," he said.

MAN Ferrostaal changed its name after Manroland opted to set up its own venture in Australia & New Zealand in 2009.

Comment below to have your say on this story.

If you have a news story or tip-off, get in touch at editorial@sprinter.com.au.  

Sign up to the Sprinter newsletter