Manroland Sheetfed to Halt Offset Press Production, Close Offenbach Plant

Manroland Sheetfed will cease all offset press production and shut down its main manufacturing site in Offenbach by early June, a decision that will affect more than 660 employees.

The announcement was made during a recent staff meeting, according to reports by Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Production of new machines is scheduled to end in late May, with 660 of the site’s approximately 740 employees set to leave in the coming months. Around 80 staff will remain until the end of the year to oversee the closure process and support a potential sale of the company’s service and spare parts operations.

Regional sales units, including Manroland’s UK operations, will continue functioning as service and engineering organizations.

The closure follows the company’s move into insolvency proceedings in March, supported by its parent company Langley Holdings. Although Manroland entered protective shield proceedings under Germany’s Schutzschirmverfahren, no investor was secured to sustain production at the Offenbach facility.

In its insolvency filing, Manroland cited declining sales and mounting losses despite maintaining a technologically advanced product portfolio. The downturn has been largely attributed to a shrinking global market for lithographic printing presses, with demand in China—historically a key market—falling by approximately 40%.

The company has a long history in the printing industry, originating in Offenbach as Faber & Schleicher before becoming Roland Offsetmaschinenfabrik. It introduced the world’s first sheetfed rotary offset press in 1911 and later merged with the printing division of MAN in 1979 to form Manroland. Despite a rescue by Langley Holdings in 2012, the business has struggled in recent years amid digitalization and unsuccessful restructuring efforts.

The shutdown marks a significant contraction in Europe’s offset press manufacturing sector as demand continues to shift toward digital printing technologies.