About

Thunderbolt Solutions was founded in 1999 and has grown from five staff up to almost 50 through organic growth and acquisitions and the addition of a number of world-leading agencies in specialist fields.

In addition, its national coverage with offices in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban has given the ability to offer world-class service levels. The company philosophy is to supply the industry with a limited number of superior-quality products and to support them with highly-trained, customer-driven, technically-competent service people, as well as a comprehensive range of spares at competitive prices.

Our list of overseas principals is world-class and is based on the philosophy of giving our customers the very best technology available. While Muller Martini was our first agency, we have subsequently identified and successfully obtained some of the leading manufacturers in the world within our product portfolio. Muller Martini is the international leader in the print finishing, mailroom, bindery and narrow web printing sectors and has a reputation for manufacturing highly productive equipment which is unrivalled in terms of reliability.

The Koenig & Bauer group in Germany is one of the world’s leading manufactures of printing presses featuring the broadest range of equipment, from small-format sheetfed through to the largest newspaper and commercial web presses. The range also features gravure and security printing presses.

Assembled around these major manufacturers is a raft of peripheral products and consumables from companies who are acknowledged leaders in their respective fields. We have compiled this product range with the specific aim of providing our customers with a small but specialised product range aimed at ensuring they are able to produce printed materials of the highest quality.

Delphax is one of the more recent additions to our product line-up but, as an internationally-recognised player in the continuous-feed digital press market, it forms a vital component in our portfolio as the industry moves more and more into digital production.

Betz Technologies manufactures a full range of ink handling and measurement systems designed to improve press efficiency and reduce overall wastage associated with all aspects of printing inks.

An increasingly important agency in the Thunderbolt armoury is Horauf, the casemaking equipment manufacturer. The volume of hard cover books being produced in South Africa is growing and as a result more efficient production methods or producing casebound products is being sought. Horauf has the ideal solution.

The need for quality control in the final stages of production is clear as this is where the finished product comes together. It is for this reason that the Optigraf electronic signature control device is so important is ensuring that the finished products are defect-free.

Added to this portfolio is a spread of consumables which makes Thunderbolt Solutions a one-stop solution for pressroom and finishing supplies. Included in this value-added range is Bottcher press rubber rollers and associated chemistry, ContiTech offset printing blankets, Weilburger varnishes and coatings and, Conflandey stitching wire.