Kennesaw, Ga. — PRINTING United Expo, the most comprehensive print tradeshow in North America, recently concluded in Atlanta, GA. Hosted only thirty miles from HEIDELBERG’s North American headquarters in Kennesaw, this year’s show provided the company the unique ability to showcase its full range of solutions with “one event in two locations.” Centered on “Connecting People, Processes, and Technology in Today’s Digital World,” HEIDELBERG highlighted its latest digital innovations: the Gallus One digital label press and its newest Versafire model, the LP – both powered by the recently enhanced Prinect Digital Front End (DFE).

“Eye Opening” Experience
Prior to the start of the Expo, HEIDELBERG hosted over 160 North American customers at its Print Media Performance and Training Center (PMPTC) to demonstrate its full product and service offerings for the commercial, packaging, and label segments. Attendees explored the robustly equipped PMPTC, which features a fully connected Smart Print Shop, including Prinect Production & Business Manager, Speedmaster XL 106-8P+L, Speedmaster CX 104-6+L, Stahlfolder TH 82 with new robotic P-Stacker, Stahlfolder KH 82, POLAR 137 System 200 and POLAR 78 cutter, Easymatrix 106, and Diana Easy 115. Additionally, the event included HEIDELBERG’s newest and fastest die cutting solution from Masterwork – the Mastermatrix 106 CSB. With speeds up to 9,000 sheets per hour, the machine features a variety of innovations all designed to maximize efficiency and user-friendliness and minimize makeready times.

According to David Dey, Vice President of Manufacturing for ColorDynamics in Allen, TX, “Seeing HEIDELBERG’s Performance Center and experiencing the technology up close really set the stage for my entire PRINTING United experience. The level of automation and connectivity that HEIDELBERG has available for its customers is eye opening. The event was one of the highlights of the entire Expo.”

Customers also had the opportunity to learn about HEIDELBERG’s Operator & Maintenance Training courses and toured the impressive renovations the company has made to its Training Center since the facility launched in 2022. “This was the perfect opportunity to show the industry that we’re more than machines,” said Clarence Penge, Executive Vice President of Product Management for HEIDELBERG USA. “Printing today is not just about having the newest technology – it’s about how you improve and integrate your people, process, and technology.”

Digital Innovation
With a focus on its digital offerings, HEIDELBERG’s booth at PRINTING United Expo featured its most recent advancements in label and commercial printing including the new Gallus One digital label press and the latest model of its best-selling digital press, the Versafire LP. Both engines are controlled by the second generation Prinect DFE, where all steps from job creation and preflighting through to color management and impositioning can be automated. The DFE also easily integrates with HEIDELBERG’s Prinect Production and Business Manager software to enable hybrid production while also providing key data for analyses and reporting for a truly Smart Print Shop.

Attendees were impressed by the offset like quality of the Gallus One, which produces 1200 x 1200 dpi resolution and 85% white opacity at top running speed [98 ft/min (30 m/min) or 230 ft/min (70 m/min)]. Its compact footprint and low TCO make it the ideal machine for a variety of printers looking for an entry point into digital label printing. During the show, HEIDELBERG announced that it will install its first Gallus One in North America at PrintFlex Graphics in St. Louis, MO later this year. Alongside the Gallus One, HEIDELBERG featured the Digi Compact from its partner Prati. The small, ergonomic machine is perfect for coating, die cutting, embellishing, and laminating digital label jobs.

With thousands of units installed worldwide, HEIDELBERG premiered its newest Versafire digital press at the Expo. With an enhanced DFE, which enables a flexible, standardized, highly productive, and intuitive combination of offset and digital printing, the Versafire LP is an efficient solution for longer production runs or a multitude of changeovers for shorter runs. “These products really demonstrate our commitment to the digital print world,” said Dan Maurer, Vice President of Digital Product Management for HEIDELBERG USA. “At the show, customers were impressed by the strides we’ve taken to not only enhance the quality of digital printing but to make the whole process simpler and smarter.”

For attendees seeking ways to improve their internal processes, HEIDELBERG had its Lifecycle and Performance experts on hand. With a variety of services available, HEIDELBERG ensures its customers are protecting and maximizing their shop’s assets, and with the new Customer Portal, customers can easily track, analyze, and increase performance — all in one place.

“Our presence at PRINTING United is about helping customers with their digital transformation,” said Penge. “With Prinect and our new Customer Portal, we’re not only easily integrating and automating processes but giving our customers transparency to their real time production data. True efficiency cannot be realized until we focus on each part of production equally – people, process, and technology.”