News | Bertelsmann Marketing Services | Essen, 06/29/2017

Sonopress honored as innovation leader

Sonopress is one of this year’s leading innovators among small and medium-sized German enterprises. The replication specialists from Gütersloh received the “Top 100” seal, which was presented for the 24th time. The two managing directors Sven Deutschmann and Jörg Dickenhorst accepted the award from TV presenter and “Top 100” mentor Ranga Yogeshwar, Nikolaus Franke, Professor for Entrepreneurship and Innovation of Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU), and representatives of the consulting firm Compamedia in Essen. In a selection process, the subsidiary of the Bertelsmann Printing Group impressed the judges with its innovative success over several generations of a technology.

Sonopress has repeatedly reinvented itself over the course of its history: launched in 1958 as a pressing plant for vinyl records, the company later switched to the development and production of CDs and DVDs. And as this market declined sharply with the spread of digital downloads and various streaming services, the next evolutionary step followed – the independent establishment of a production line for Ultra-HD Blu-ray discs (UHD-BD). “Until then, we were more technology followers, but market pressure pushed us into a technology trailblazer role,” says Managing Director Sven Deutschmann.

Far-sightedness has paid off  

Based on continuous market monitoring, Sonopress recognized in time that optical data storage devices for televisions with large ultra-high definition screens needed to store a greater amount of data and information. So the replication specialists developed the world’s first fully-automated production line for UHD-BD with anenormous storage capacity of up to 100 gigabytes for devices with ultra-high resolution and color quality – and it did so six to eight months ahead of Japanese and American competitors. This far-sightedness has paid off: today, nearly all the major Hollywood studios are regular customers. And Sonopress also occupies a top position in the booming world of video games with its high-performing products: it is one of only three companies in the world to offer certified data carriers for the gaming industry.