From a vision to reality
REUS was established for the purposes of reinforcing the already large Oldenbourg Gruppe, and was launched between 1998 to 2000 as a concept in the minds of pioneers and visionaries. Oldenbourg was the dominant player in the printing industry in Germany at the time. Generations of the Oldenbourg family had built up this position and their sometimes archaic portraits adorned the foyer of the company's headquarters in the adjacent Heimstetten district of Munich for many years.
The former military complex in Bory in Pilsen offered a strategic location with regards to logistics following the realisation of this original plan. The objectives were to build a strong company that would further reinforce the dominant position of the Oldenbourg Gruppe in Europe and dominate the printing industry in the Czech Republic through superior capacities and technological equipment. The construction began on 1 January 2001 with the laying of the cornerstone, which today still decorates the company's reception area. REUS finally saw the light of day! It was more than just a project, for its day, it was a giant rising on the Bory fields.
A truly strong player in the field
Production work was divided into two main areas during these first years. One covered comprehensive printing, from printing itself to different types of book bindings (operatively called BOOK) and the other was involved in post-printing work (CATALOGUE), where type V2 glued brochures with soft panels were processed. This work primarily involved high volume processing of advertising catalogues.
Printing was performed on two MAN Roland Lithoman II printing lines. The BOOK department was fully equipped for both soft and hard glued and stitched bindings. Half of the area provided facilities for folding and panelling machines. Two TRENDBINDER glueing lines were attached to them, followed by a stitching line and a line for hanging in folders. Women were the primary operators on the stitching lines. Was it due to the fine and precise work with threads? Another part of the massive facility was used for catalogue production. This work was performed in 2005 on 4 large assembly and gluing lines: NB4, NB5, Corona 18 and Corona 24 supplied by Müller Martini.
Road to independence
From books to catalogues
2005 was another milestone in REUS' history. The Oldenbourg Gruppe ceased to exist. The SCHLOTT
Group expressed an interest in REUS. The production portfolio changed
significantly once the company joined this group (the Schlott Gruppe).
Production in the BOOK section ceased. The vision was clear: dominate on the catalogue market with production capacities and volumes. Printing wasn't left completely behind. As the first in the industry, we installed a 72-page rotary four-colour MAN Roland Lithoman IV 72S printing machine. It was at this time that interest in personalised products first appeared. A boom followed and the demand for capacity
in the following years was covered by two stationary systems for personalisation from BUSKRO, an HP cassette system from Kirk - Rudy and a JetEngine GUI mobile cassette system.
In 2011, however, even a giant like Schlott was forced to retreat from the battlefield and with them the offset printing equipment also disappeared from REUS. Such was the impact of the economic crisis. STARK became the company's new owner. It was a real leap from the human resources to printing, but REUS with its subsidiary DVN Media continued to saturate the market with even more millions of various products. However, the technological development slowed. The period from 2011 to 2014 was largely marked by considerations swirling around the question: "What's next?"
On our own two feet
The turning point was 2014. REUS and DVM clearly matured to such an extent that they could strike out on their own and away from their parent company links and stand out in Europe on their own two feet. This began the history of this exclusively Czech company. The question of re-engineering began to be a pressing topic. Investments were made in technologies, knowledge and new trends. There were once again developments in printing, this time in a digital form. The process of the company's transformation was kicked off by a series of investments into modern innovations. With emphasis on speed and the total volume of production, high-capacity FERAG and KOLBUS lines were deployed. Interest in personalised products increased tremendously during this period, which required the recruitment of a team of professionals and corresponding technical equipment. New trends in UV printing were covered by AMICA and RICOH lines which have double-sided Read And Print personalisation technology.
Since 2020 , REUS has stood alone in the post-print processing field. Its condition is now strengthened by other technological equipment with a focus on efficient and fast processing of V1 stitched binding such as PRIMERA MC14 and a high performance MCS Eagle 40 InkJet system to fulfil demanding colour UV personalisation requirements. Lower-cost tasks for personalisation and other activities are supported by a six-colour digital XEROX Iridesse printing system with replaceable inks with gold, silver, white colour and glossy lacquer.