The Wiesloch plant of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) recently produced the 1,000th Speedmaster XL 105 printing unit. Heidelberg did not begin series production of this new generation of printing presses until April 2005. The Speedmaster XL 105 is targeted at industrialized print shops in the commercial and packaging sectors that value its high level of automation and efficient operation. "The Speedmaster XL 105 has met our customers' every expectation," states Dr. Jürgen Rautert, Management Board Member responsible for Engineering and Manufacturing at Heidelberg. "Many first-time customers are already ordering their second or even third press in this performance class," he adds. New flagship becoming a bestseller Capacity utilization levels in Wiesloch are high. One of the key markets for this press is Europe, which takes one in every two presses. One German print shop, for example, recently ordered 27 Speedmaster XL 105 printing units and changed over its entire pressroom to this series. The 1,000th printing unit will be going to Italy. Other major markets are North America and the Asia-Pacific region, including Japan. Top productivity and quality Customers surveys reveal that the productivity of the Speedmaster XL 105 can be raised by up to 30 percent. This is due in almost equal measure to savings in make-ready time and faster average speed per job. Color remains stable even at speeds of 18,000 sheets per hour. All in all, this cuts the cost of each sheet produced, while the number of saleable "OK sheets" is raised significantly. This makes production more cost-effective and also raises print capacity. The proven Prinect CP2000 control unit facilitates operation and increases reliability. The Speedmaster XL 105 also wins friends due to its superb styling - it recently received the Design Award of the Federal Republic of Germany. The Speedmaster XL 105 is a completely new platform development from Heidelberg that extends the existing product portfolio in 70 x 100 (27.56 x 39.37 inch) format. The Speedmaster XL 105 and Speedmaster SM/CD 102 are assembled in a bay in Wiesloch with a total surface area of 72,000 square meters, which is roughly the size of nine soccer fields. A press with six printing units and one coating unit weighs around 63 tons. A printing unit is made up of over 3,000 individual components and weighs over seven tons.