Heidelberg ANZ rides Asian packaging print surge

Heidelberg has flexed its Asia Pacific credentials with a concerted expansion push in the region, taking on new customers in Australia, Vietnam, Thailand, and China among other markets in the rapidly growing south-east Asia and Pacific areas.

The German offset giant has reported that printers in emerging markets have been investing heavily in its equipment, with businesses in the packaging printing sector of the industry being particularly keen to take on new Heidelberg machinery.

According to a report released by Heidelberg this month, strong economies in many countries within the Asia Pacific region have led to improved consumer confidence and spending. This economic confidence has resulted in a heightened demand for consumer goods, leading to a surge in packaging volume growth.

While it is no secret that China has continued to invest heavily in offset as well as newer digital technologies, other countries in the region have been joining in, with companies in Vietnam, Thailand, India and Malaysia also investing heavily in Heidelberg equipment, a trend reflected in the company’s ANZ operations.

Heidelberg’s ANZ managing director, Andy Vels Jensen (pictured), says that, while the Australian and New Zealand markets have not fully stabilized, the post drupa sales for the company are promising, with 18 Speedmaster presses currently on order or already installed.

“Five new Speedmaster presses were installed over the past six weeks, including two presses into New Zealand, the first SX52 into New Zealand and an 18,000 sheet-per-hour Speedmaster XL75-5 with coater into Service Printers in Wellington,” says Jensen.

“Seven new Speedmaster presses are being installed into Australia over the next seven or so weeks, which will be followed by the very first SX102 Speedmaster installation into ANZ; being joined by a new fully loaded Speedmaster CX102 press,” he says. “Likewise, the first two Speedmaster XL106 presses, one having perfecting speed of 18,000 sheets-per-hour, have been contracted for installation into ANZ.

“All these presses are entering medium sized business operations and these companies obviously have confidence in not only the market, offset as a technology moving forward, but also in their own ability to compete and be successful in print,” he says.

The company also says that large packaging printing companies in several Vietnamese cities, including Hung Yen, Binh-Tan, Ho Chi Min City and Hanoi, have taken on Speedmaster systems for primarily packaging printing.

The largest of the Vietnamese businesses to take on the new equipment, Viettel Printing, has signed orders for two Speedmaster CD 102-6+L X UV machines, which are to be installed at the company’s premises in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, and the country’s largest metropolitan centre, Ho Chi Min City.

According to the report, Vietnamese packaging printers taking on new Heidelberg equipment are investing primarily in Speedmaster CD 102 machines, with packaging and label printer, Khatoco, installing one of the six-colour units, as did Viethung Packaging in Hung Yen (pictured).

Mr. Hung, owner of Viethung Packaging Hanoi, pictured with Douglas Mooney, Product Management Heidelberg Asia Pacific, and the Rieckermann Vietnam installation team.

Another growing market for the German company is Thailand, with a variety of the country’s packaging printing companies also taking on Speedmaster systems.

As with other markets, the Speedmaster 102 machines have proven popular in Thailand, with Nonthaburi-based folding carton manufacturer, S. Silpa, preparing to install a Speedmaster CX 102 eight-colour press with coater and UV, as is Samut Prakan-based L.L.H. Printing & Packaging, which will soon be adding a second Speedmaster 102 system to its operation.

India is another Asian market in which Heidelberg has found growing sales, with printing and packaging businesses across the sub-continent snapping up a whole range of Speedmaster systems.

New Delhi-based commercial and packaging printer, Maatti Design, has installed a Speedmaster SM 74 five-colour standard pile machine, while Modest Graphics, also in Delhi, has installed a new Speedmaster SM 74-4-H, a move that has allowed the company to kick-start its export business.

Further south, Malaysia has received its first Speedmaster SX 102 eight-colour perfecting press, with the country’s Ministry of Finance unit, Percetakan Nasional Malaysia Bhd, in Putrajaya, taking on the new machine, following this year’s drupa in May. Meanwhile, Singapore-based commercial printer Asiawide Print Holdings installed a Speedmaster XL 75 in January this year.

Heidelberg says that, among the region’s packaging printing sub-sectors, the food, non-food and beverages categories registered positive packaging unit volume growth, and increased demand for product quality and safety have prodded packaging printers to innovate and continue to invest in high-quality equipment.