In the printing industry, the pursuit of longevity and dependable performance is paramount. This year marks a momentous occasion for two organisations dedicated to setting this standard: Böttcher is proudly celebrating its 300th year of continuous operation and Widasla Technologies is marking its 20th year in business. This dual anniversary provides a timely backdrop to an exciting new strategic alliance that promises to elevate the standard of printing quality across the South African market and beyond.
Böttcher’s legacy, dating back to 1725, is built on the founding philosophy of “Tradition, Evolution, and Innovation”. A family-run organisation to this day, Böttcher has evolved to become a world market leader in its field. Its core competence is the development, production and processing of elastomer materials such as rubber and polyurethane, making it one of the world’s frontrunners in roller coverings.
The company’s colossal scale involves 2 000 employees located in 38 countries, operating 27 roller production sites in 19 countries, and actively servicing over 30 000 customers across 123 markets. This immense infrastructure and experience, built over more than 140 years in roller manufacturing, now forms the backbone of the partnership with Widasla. Böttcher is guided by a "Glocal" approach, thinking globally but acting locally, which necessitates a close proximity to customers across all continents.
Dirk Odenbrett, CSO Böttcher Group, affirms this commitment to proximity and quality, stating: ‘Supplying the world centrally from Germany is not possible, so being on every continent and in as many countries as possible, with our production and service sites, is a strategic imperative for us. It allows us to ensure our global quality standards are met locally.’
The origin of a strategic alliance
The foundation for this alliance was laid at the drupa 2024 exhibition in Düsseldorf, Germany. The initial conversation between the two companies immediately explored the possibility of collaboration and from the very first moment, the right personal and professional chemistry was established.
This led to a subsequent, more in-depth discussion, followed by a third, which culminated in a very concrete plan for Widasla to partner with the German-based organisation. The strong synergy between the two companies was so evident that the agreement was concluded right at the show, without any formal contract being immediately drawn up.
This commitment was first cemented in March this year when Dou Fourie, Managing Director of Widasla Technologies, flew to Böttcher's headquarters to finalise the partnership deal. He subsequently returned in May to participate in the company's grand 300-year anniversary celebrations, underscoring the deep commitment and value Widasla places on this alliance.
As a fellow family-owned business with a long tradition and history, Böttcher highly values partners who approach their work with passion and dedication. The company identified this critical quality in Widasla, recognising that its people are “living the job”, not just doing it. This deep-seated reliability, appreciated by Böttcher, means a handshake would be enough with such a trustworthy partner.
’We are a family-owned business, and for us it is very important to do what we do with heart. Widasla’s people are living the job; they’re not doing the job. They’re living it. And this is very important for us when we have such partnerships,’ Dirk explained.
For Böttcher, Widasla's core business of refurbishing printing machines represented a perfect fit for its product offering. This partnership ensures Widasla is now able to provide its customers with the exact, high-specification products that Böttcher supplies to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) who produce brand-new presses, such as major players like Heidelberg, Komori and Koenig & Bauer. The collaborative model highlights the importance of providing brand-new components, as rollers are a consumable product that requires replacement after a certain mileage, much like a tyre on a car.
Böttcher's exceptional core competence
Böttcher’s unparalleled position in the industry is primarily due to its unique control over the entire production chain. A crucial element is the roller manufacturer's capacity to produce the raw rubber material it uses to cover its rollers in-house. This involves mixing the rubber according to proprietary, self-developed recipes.
This complete control means Böttcher can rapidly adapt products to new applications or requirements, acting as a development partner for both machine builders and end users. This commitment to innovation is supported by 70 employees in R&D who develop 600 compounds in the company’s own laboratories and successfully introduce 30 innovative new compounds every year.
Exceptional quality is guaranteed globally by a central rubber compounding facility in Germany, which ensures a consistent standard across all production sites worldwide. Furthermore, all production processes are standardised and certified under ISO 9001.
Beyond its world-leading rollers, Böttcher provides a full complement of consumables essential to a printing shop's operation, including printing blankets, washes, fountain solutions and other cleaning agents. The extensive product range covers all major printing areas: sheet-fed offset, web-fed offset, flexo and rotogravure printing.
The company’s focus is strongly aligned with the packaging industry, including flexible packaging and corrugated board, which is identified as a key growth market for its products. Böttcher’s solutions are also supplied into a diverse range of non-printing sectors - wherever a rubber-covered roller is used for functions such as transporting, varnishing or moving liquid. These industries include the metal, steel, glass, plastic and wood industries.
Dirk underscored the strategic importance of this wide product range: ‘We cover the full range in offset printing with all the products the customer needs, and this is also what we offer via Widasla, so they can take all of our products and supply them to their entire customer base.’
Widasla Technologies: Growth, expertise and global market impact
Widasla Technologies has established itself as an expert in the refurbishment of printing equipment, specifically dealing with offset printing.
The company’s focus on providing a refurbished machine that receives brand-new rollers is what made the partnership with Böttcher strategically vital, perfectly aligning the longevity of the machine with the quality of its consumables. The company completes 10 to 15 full machine rebuilds every year - and every single one of these refurbished machines are now fitted with Böttcher rollers.
The commitment to quality, which is central to the company’s 20th-anniversary celebration, drives its decision-making. Dou Fourie, Managing Director of Widasla Technologies, reflected on this milestone: ‘Reaching our 20th year in business is a testament to our focus on customer trust and delivering only the best components in our rebuilt machines. That commitment is why partnering with a 300-year-old company like Böttcher was an absolute necessity.’
Widasla’s market impact is far-reaching, extending well beyond the borders of South Africa. The company services a vast range of customers and exports its refurbished machines worldwide. This global network was identified by Böttcher as being of immense value for distributing its products. The close relationship Widasla maintains with its customer base also perfectly aligns with Böttcher’s own commitment to exceptional service.
Since the partnership was formally agreed upon, Widasla has moved swiftly to bring the world-leading quality to the local market, having already installed more than 120 sets of Böttcher rollers in South Africa.
The successful distribution and adoption of these products are demonstrated by sets being sold and installed across key commercial and industrial hubs such as Durban and Cape Town. This rapid adoption is a clear indicator of the market's demand for the enhanced performance provided by the Böttcher product.
Dou confirmed the immense market impact and the strategic rationale: ‘The uptime on the presses after installing Böttcher rollers is phenomenal. The quality and the lifespan that they provide is quite amazing. The high quality of rollers, for which Böttcher is renowned, is in perfect alignment with the exceptional standard of Widasla’s refurbished presses.’
He also highlighted the scope of the company’s international operations, ‘Our refurbished machines are now operating in markets across the globe, including the USA. It’s a point of pride that every one of these high-performance Widasla presses is now commissioned with Böttcher rollers, ensuring our international customers receive a machine with world-class components right from the first run.’
Looking ahead, Widasla’s growth trajectory remains strong, focusing on the future of the printing sector. The company's immediate plans include the expansion of its offering to market Böttcher consumables throughout South Africa.
Dou explained the logic behind this, saying, ‘We’ve seen the extraordinary difference Böttcher's rollers make to press uptime. Expanding our offering to include their full range of consumables, including blankets, washes and fount solutions, is the logical next step to provide a complete, quality-assured package to our customers here in South Africa. We are confident that these too are of the highest quality.’
Furthermore, 2026 is set to be a year of significant growth in capacity and reach, with Widasla expecting a great selection of cutting-edge presses to arrive into South Africa, including a 2022 KBA 106 6-colour UV press and a 2017 Heidelberg XL 106 7LYYL. Demonstrating its continued global reach, a 2018 Heidelberg XL 106 7L UV/IR Combi Press will be exported to the USA.
This continuous investment in high-spec machinery and commitment to global trade continues to solidify Widasla’s position as a dynamic leader in the refurbished press market. This is a partnership built on two complementary businesses: one with an unmatched history of quality and development and the other with a strong, growing network that ensures those products reach both local and international customers who demand press uptime and quality.
‘We are the supplier to almost all machine manufacturers in this business area of sheetfed offset, so the big players in the world are buying our product for their brand-new machines. This confidence in Böttcher’s quality, from the largest OEMs to a trusted partner like Widasla, is the best guarantee we can offer the printing industry,’ Dirk concluded.