In the following account, Mehrdad Bagheri, Printing Group Director of Megaps provides greater details of Mitsubishi printing units and this company’s partnership with Megaps:

Please tell us about Megaps’ activities and its representation of Mitsubishi.

Megaps officially began selling Mitsubishi printing machines in April 2000. Our negotiations with different Mitsubishi divisions lasted over one year to win representation in Iran. Megaps has long been involved in production and sale of printing and lithography equipment such as prepress, scanner and image-setter, specialized desktop publication software, films and zinc, etc. It accounts for a great share of the market. In addition to office automation and new microfilm and microfiche systems, Megaps has played a role in banking system. The company also focuses on automation systems of postmark machines. It represents world-class companies manufacturing postmark machines.

What made Mitsubishi pick out Megaps among other well-known Iranian companies?

Among the reasons why Mitsubishi picked Megaps to represent it in Iran are:
The representative’s attitude and market philosophy, having updated working groups, ability to render technical and after-sale services, honesty and expertise.

How do you evaluate printing Industry in Iran?

Printing industry basically needs much investment. In Iran, investment restrictions in the past two decades led to prevalence of two undesirable occurrences: Opting for second hand machinery and ignoring the qualitative aspect of new machinery.
Economic and expert-level surveys show second hand machinery are not considered as capital goods. In order for prices to be low enough the machinery should be at least ten years old and there is expected to be maintenance flaws as well. As a result, buying inexpensive second hand machinery absorbs extra expenditures for maintenance and overhaul. Recent contributions of the banking system have drawn the attention of printing industrialists to brand new machinery. Besides, they have produced competitiveness in the market leading to higher quality in printing products.

How does Megaps approach the market? What items has it presented?

Megaps uses two major economic advantages to draw the attention of publishing house owners: Banking loans either in rials or foreign currencies, and concession by manufacturers in favor of buyers.
Megaps has sold two large-format (102x72 cm), four-color machines to the Printing and Publications Organization, affiliated to the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. The machines have been operational since July 2001.
A 52x72 cm, four-color machine along with a new 102x72 cm, four-color machine are being shipped into the country. Three other large-format machines have been ordered. They are expected to arrive in Iran and be installed by the year’s end.

Mitsubishi manufactures sheet fed and web printing machines. Simplest sheet fed machines are 52x72 cm and print in two different colors. The most sophisticated heavy-duty machines are 104x144 cm and offer 8 colors. These machines can use sheets as thin as 40gr to card boards as thick as 1mm. Mitsubishi sheet fed machines currently used in Iran are:

Diamond 1000 LS (52x72 cm) – Speed: 15,000 copies per hour
Diamond 3000 (72x102 cm) – Speed: Between 13,000 and 16,000 copies per hour
These machines offer between two and eight different colors using sheets as thin as 0.04 mm to sheets as thick as 1 mm.
Among other products of Mitsubishi is the Diamond web machine capable of printing 60,000 copies per hour. This model is usually used for commercial purposes. Another product chiefly used for newspaper printing releases 75,000 copies per hour.
Mitsubishi has secured a berth top on the list of printing machine manufacturers in the world. It should be noted that Mitsubishi first invented a number of techniques currently being used by other key manufacturers. That’s why Mitsubishi is now a serious competitor for famous companies on European and American markets.

What have been the results of Megaps-Mitsubishi partnership?