The family history of Imprimerie Léonce Deprez, founded in 1922, will continue. The rotativiste located in the Pas-de-Calais, which was placed in receivership in June 2019 was taken over yesterday at the bar of the Commercial Court of Arras by its managing director, Léonce-Antoine Deprez, son of the owner and grandson of the founder.
The printing company, which employed around 130 people at the time it went into receivership, now has a staff of around 60. "Falling print volumes have forced us to restructure the company quickly to adapt to new technologies and the market." explains Léonce-Antoine Deprez.
To ensure the company's long-term future, Léonce-Antoine Deprez - with a majority shareholding - has joined forces with the Sprint printing group, based in Gennevilliers in the Hauts-de-Seine region of France. " We'll find significant synergies."
Diversify to be less dependent on the press
The printing plant, which has a turnover of 15 million euros in the consumer and trade press, will also offer catalogues, flyers and guides with a print run of 1,000 to 200,000 copies. "We continue to print what we do, but with a view to diversifying in the medium term, to be less dependent on the newspaper business."
In February, the Ruitz site, a unit dedicated to converting and the headquarters of the Léonce Deprez Printing works, will be moved to the company's second site, which has so far been dedicated to printing in Wancourt. "All our production will take place on a single site ideally located on the A1 in Arras: sheet-fed and roto printing, square back, quilted back and routing. This will enable us to continue to meet our customers' demands for flexibility, responsiveness and quality."
Industry 4.0 and the environment in focus
"We also want to be labeled Factory 4.0 within two years." . The label Vitrine Industrie du Futur is a label issued by the members of the Alliance Industrie du Futur, in collaboration with the Ministry of Industry. It is awarded to companies that have developed an innovative project in the organisation of their production. "We've automated the entire production: every production line in the factory is connected."
And the company also has the ambition to become "the most eco-friendly printing company possible".. . She had already printed the magazine "greenest" in June 2020, the new quarterly So Good from the publisher Sopress (read Imprimerie Léonce Deprez produces the most organic magazine in the world ).
The former owner, Léonce-Michel Deprez, who leaves the company in the hands of his son, retires serenely.
