China’s largest CtP manufacturer joins hands with ECRM

Hangzhou CRON Machinery & Electronics Co Ltd, China’s largest CtP manufacturer, has forayed into North American graphic communications market by forming a joint venture company with ECRM I m a g i n g Systems, a global leader in imaging technologies. C R O N – ECRM will serve as the master distributor in North America for CRON CtP systems and Blackwood, a new line of offset printing plates manufactured in China. CRONECRM will also be a future centre for the research and development of new, high-quality prepress equipment that will be distributed worldwide. CRON-ECRM will be responsible for sales and service of CRON solutions and will partner with CRON in CtP development. The new venture will be key to completing CRON’s global strategy for distribution of high quality CtP solutions offering unique value to printers and publishers throughout the world.

“Having achieved a successful launch in Asia and Europe, CRON is ready to serve the needs of the offset print industry in North America,” stated Mike Xiang, chairman of the board of both CRON and CRON-ECRM. “We opened a regional office in Dusseldorf, Germany, in 2013 to better serve our customers in the European market. Partnering with ECRM in this joint venture, combining its competencies in design and manufacturing with those of CRON, is critical to our plans for continued global expansion. Future plans include establishing an engineering operation in North America to better support what we expect to be a dynamic market opportunity.”

According to Rick Black, chairman of ECRM and president and CEO of the new company, “ECRM has always had the prime objective of providing outstanding products, sales, and service for our graphic arts partners, and we found a partner in CRON with the same objectives. The synergies inherent in this collaboration with CRON will be in the best interests of our combined customer base, distribution partners, and the industry at large. For more than four decades, ECRM has delivered some of the most reliable, cost-efficient, and qualityoriented solutions in the printing and publishing marketplace. This partnership provides a unique opportunity to take that reputation to the next level by establishing CRON-ECRM as the industry leader in the North American prepress marketplace.”