Heidelberg ramps up China manufacturing

A full third of all Heidelberg presses are now being manufactured in China, with the machines being exported to 40 countries, including Australia, New Zealand and most of western Europe.

Heidelberg’s Shanghai factory saw its exports grow by 19 per cent in the last year, even with Covid putting a dampener on press investment. Exports have even gone into Germany.

Presses now manufactured in Shanghai include the Speedmaster SX 74, Speedmaster CS 92, Speedmaster SX 102 and Speedmaster CD 102.

The Chinese factory has some 450 staff and manufactures printing presses for commercial and packaging printing across all standard format classes. Production operations are centered on the 70 × 100 format class, specifically the Speedmaster CD 102 and Speedmaster CS 92 models.

“Our production at the Chinese site in Shanghai is a success story, not just in terms of the Chinese market, but also, and increasingly with regard to the rest of the world,” said Heidelberg CEO Rainer Hundsdörfer. “Already, around one third of all the Heidelberg printing units being manufactured are coming from this plant. Following the rapid economic recovery of the Asian markets from the coronavirus pandemic, our local production operations have proven to be a strategic advantage in overcoming the crisis. As a consequence, we are increasingly able to realise growth opportunities in these regions.”

The Shanghai factory was established in 2005, initially to manufacture finishing systems, it then started making small format presses, before moving into the larger format machines.