About us - Moderna Printing

Let me take you back in time,
moderna printing al sinds 1947

1947: START-UP - JAN BONGAERTS, 23 YEARS OLD
Jan Bongaerts uses his last few pennies to buy a plot of land on the Koolmijnlaan in Heusden-Zolder, puts up a building measuring 6x8 metres, then buys a second-hand printing press and comes up with the name Drukkerij Moderna for his fledgling enterprise.
1949: PIONEERING WORK – 'FILMNIEUWS’ (CINEMA NEWS) ADVERTISING MAGAZINE
The printing firm met with success from the start. Lots of handbills had to be printed for the local cinemas. This is how the idea came about of several cinemas generating publicity together. The first advertising pamphlet was called Drukkerij Moderna's Filmnieuws (Moderna Printworks Cinema News). Soon, other traders wanted to advertise in this pamphlet, too.
1988: FIRST COLDSET PRESS
The firm invested in its first coldset rotary press. A brave step, but in no time at all the press was overflowing with print orders.
1991: FIRST HEATSET PRESS
The firm invested in its first heatset rotary press. A brave step, but in no time at all the press was overflowing with print orders.
1994: RELOCATION TO PAAL
The printworks in Heusden had grown too small. We relocated to new, practical premises along the E313 in Paal-Beringen.
2000: FINISHING WORK START-UP
To allow greater room for finishing operations, Optimax was set up. A fully-fledged finishing company at new premises in Beringen.
2004: FIRST 48 PAGE PRESS
The first 48-page heatset rotary press would be a Lithoman IV with quick-start rewetting and very limited paper waste. A great choice! It marks the first steps towards the magazine printing market.
2010: ALL UNDER ONE ROOF
Following the purchase of an adjacent industrial plot, the finishing department is integrated back into one location. It’s a record year for investment! A 10-colour 70x100 press with roll feeder is added. Finishing is complemented with a super-fast saddle stitcher and the first true robot takes care of the trimming from now on.
2010-2020: NEW PRESSES
After investing in a second 48-page press, a 16-page Rotoman press and a 32-page shortgrain press, the works again need to expand.
2020: KEEP INVESTING
At the height of the Covid pandemic: we invest in an ultra-modern 80-page press, we expand stock capacity to 5,000 tons of paper rolls and we build a completely new CTP department.Through this last venture we are totally ready for the future and continue to work full of optimism on expanding Moderna Printing.
2022: 75TH ANNIVERSARY
What once started as a one-man business has grown into an internationally renowned printing firm with 80 employees. Moderna Printing today is a really healthy company which continues to invest in automation, technology and craftsmanship.

Printing company
of the future

With more than 75 years of printing history just behind us, we have learned that it is extremely important to look to the future. Thanks to a great policy vision for the short and medium terms, we have been able to keep our company on the right track so far.

Today, too, we look to the future and prepare ourselves carefully.

We plan to invest in automating our machinery and internal logistics to consolidate our competitive position.

New printing presses deliver better returns without sacrificing the quality we offer our customers.

We are using robots to make in-house transport more efficient and easier.

In the short term, we plan to be carbon-neutral as soon as possible.

We are doing this by implementing additional energy-saving measures and by generating even more of our own energy.

We respond to changing market conditions, such asdigitisation, for instance, by being able to print ever smaller runs using heatset rotary printing.

Would you like a no-obligation quote for an upcoming printing project? Then please don’t hesitate to complete the quotation form and email it back to us.

Request quote