The alliance between design firms The Facility Group and Eurografica won’t influence the work TFG might do for U.S. newspaper clients looking for a new press or other equipment, said Ken Harding, president of TFG’s newspaper/print media unit in Denver.

TFG last month said it would work with Eurografica, a unit of MAN Roland, to provide consulting, architectural and engineering services to newspapers and printers worldwide.

MAN Roland’s ownership of Eurografica has sparked concerns about TFG’s objectivity when helping clients select press equipment.

“There’s no question,” said an executive at one rival newspaper architectural firm who declined to be identified, “MAN Roland is now my competitor.”

Harding discounted any criticism that TFG would be unduly swayed by its partnership with Augsburg, Germany-based Eurografica.

“The whole idea behind this is that Eurografica is a good company; it’s not just consulting, but planning. They don’t have architectural or engineering services, but TFG does, so this lets us hook up to serve clients around the world,” Harding said.

Not concerned

“I’m not concerned about the link between Eurografica and MAN Roland. We studied this very closely, and there is a very distinct line between MAN Roland and Eurografica.

“I’ve been in this business for more than 30 years and I believe people know we offer high-integrity consulting, and that won’t change,” Harding said. “I hope that people will realize that.

“If I wasn’t comfortable that Eurografica offers the same high level of service, we wouldn’t have done the partnership.”

Eurografica, founded by MAN Roland in 1970, has worked on a number of newspaper production plant construction projects. In the United States, its only North American project, it coordinated the construction of The Des Moines (Iowa) Register’s plant, which is anchored by three MAN Roland GeoMAN presses. It also oversaw sites for papers in Brazil, Australia and Canada.

Global resources

Harding said TFG will continue to manage and oversee U.S. projects using its own resources. It will only partner with Eurografica for overseas clients.

Globally, “the alliance will let us deliver a turnkey solution,” from consulting to architecture, he said. “In the U.S., we wouldn’t involve Eurografica.

“It’s a challenging market,” Harding said about the industry’s dearth of new plant projects, particularly in North America. “We have to challenge paradigms, and this alliance will give us both the capability to serve new customers, both newspaper and commercial printers.”

The partnership with Eurografica is the second alliance TFG has formed in recent months. In March, the firm teamed up with Lawrence, Kan.-based RBE Co. to offer technical services to commercial print, folding carton and package printers.