HEIDELBERG CELEBRATES 175 YEARS

During a week-long celebration of 175 years in operation, the world’s biggest offset press manufacturer, Heidelberg, has relaunched and rebranded its Print Media Center as the 9000sqm Home of Print, claiming it is the world's biggest print customer experience centre.

Heidelberg has been celebrating its 175th anniversary, with a week of activities, launches and events at the company’s Wiesloch-Walldorf site in Germany, which included the launch of its new Cartonmaster CX-145 size 6 press, and an end-to-end integrated system for its Jetfire 50 inkjet press.

Some 1500 guests from around the world were at the event, and attended the opening ceremony for the Print Media Center, in its new look as rebranded the Home of Print.

Jürgen Otto, CEO of Heidelberg greeted the customers, suppliers, partners, politicians, and representatives of civil society attending the ceremony with the following words: “A warm welcome to Heidelberg, and a warm welcome to our Home of Print, the printing industry’s largest customer experience centre anywhere in the world. We have now been the Home of Print for 175 years.”

Rebranded as the Home of Print, the redesigned PMC tracks the company’s growth strategy for its core business, and presents future-proof and specific solutions that the company says will appeal to all relevant target groups.

For example, various end-to-end production systems are available for the customer presentations in collaboration with partners such as Polar and MK Masterwork – from high-quality folding carton production with the Speedmaster series, high-volume folding carton printing with the new Boardmaster flexographic web printing system, and industrial label production using offset, digital, and flexographic printing, through to commercial printing and hybrid print production (digital/offset).

The entire Heidelberg portfolio has been incorporated into a single digital ecosystem comprising Prinect software, equipment (including postpress solutions and robotics), consumables, service, training, and consulting.

In its own data lab, Heidelberg offers a number of case studies to demonstrate how the company can harness its data expertise and use data analyses to help customers with their requirements and business model – when it comes to solving problems, integrating process steps, or boosting their performance, for instance.

Customers can also benefit from the wide-ranging application know-how of the Heidelberg experts at the demonstration centre.

“Our Home of Print reflects our growth strategy for our core business, which showcases Heidelberg as a collaborative total solution provider and end-to-end systems integrator for packaging and commercial printing,” said Dr David Schmedding, chief technology and sales officer at Heidelberg.

Heidelberg is extending its portfolio for industrial digital printing and integrating postpress solutions from CP Bourg and Tecnau into its Jetfire 50 ecosystem. The company says this means Jetfire 50 customers will benefit from sales, software, service, and consulting from a single source.

The company says that thanks to this complementary portfolio, print businesses can produce all kinds of end products in inline and nearline processes with varying page counts and final formats. Back at the start of the year, Heidelberg also launched the Stahlfolder Fireline concept to manufacture cut and folded products in conjunction with the Jetfire 50.

Redesigned as the Home of Print, the Print Media Center at the Wiesloch-Walldorf site covers an area of 9,000sqm. Each year, some 1000 personalised presentations take place, with customers usually bringing along their own print jobs so they can thoroughly test the machines based on their specific requirements.

No fewer than 120 Heidelberg experts are on hand to share their technical expertise and comprehensive application know-how, offering advice and support from the initial preparations through to the follow-up meeting after the presentations.

Throughout the year, the company also organizes open house events for German and international customers. These events focus on the key industry trends in packaging, label, and commercial printing. On top of that, Heidelberg provides around 100 guided tours of the PMC every year for visitors from brand manufacturers, schools, universities, and related sectors of industry.

There are also regular training sessions for the Heidelberg service team. Besides the Print Media Center at the Wiesloch-Walldorf site, the company also operates a global network of further customer demonstration centres in the USA, China, Japan, Indonesia, and Switzerland.