This slowdown was down to two key factors: customers struggling to attract finance from lenders to fuel investment in new machinery and also the fact that since the beginning of the financial crisis in 2008 the printing industry has undergone unparalleled levels of bankruptcies and consolidation with the market now 50% of its pre-recession size (in Manroland's case the shrinking size of the sheetfed market in particular hasn't helped the situation).

Manroland's problems are not unique. All of the rival press manufacturing giants have encountered problems over the course of the last few years with market leader Heidelberg reporting a loss of €500m over the last three years alone and in 2009 the situation was so dire that the company was forced to request bailout cash from the German government. Losing printers to the financial downturn wasn't a major surprise given the slim margins that many operate on.

But losing manufacturers causes a whole raft of new problems. Outside of Germany Manroland's offices are busy reassuring customers that it's "business as usual" although they concede that laying hands on spare parts could become an issue in the future. Clearly if the press giant's parent company goes under this raises serious question marks over the ability of the company's engineers to repair and service existing equipment.

"press manufacturers look set to face some tough months ahead."

It also raises question marks as to which other manufacturers could be in danger of financial collapse. Their customer base has contracted and the industry has consolidated but the same can't be said of equipment manufacturers. However, with orders for new equipment thin on the ground and the ongoing problems around financing unlikely to be resolved any time soon as the crisis in the Eurozone rumbles on, press manufacturers look set to face some tough months ahead.

Which is why the need to innovate and branch out into new areas is as important to them as it is to the printers that they supply. This year alone Heidelberg announced that it was moving back into digital through a tie up with Ricoh. Then in August the company acquired German digital press manufacturer CSAT as part of plans to expand its packaging sector. Elsewhere KBA announced that its order book was up by 15.4% for the nine months to end of October thanks to growing sales of special presses capable of churning out niche products.

The pressure to innovate and adapt to the new market conditions presents a new set of challenges for the printing industry and it's clear from recent developments that only those forward thinking companies that accept and rise to the challenge will endure in the long term.