The 1000th machine has just left the factory halls of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) at its assembly site in Qingpu near Shanghai (China). The machine in question is a Speedmaster CD 102 with four printing units, soon to be installed at the print shop of Jinangxi Jinrui Printing Co.,Ltd. in Nangchang.

"Our strategy of establishing our own production facilities for standard equipment in China is paying dividends. It has enabled us to strengthen our position on the local market, and we now assemble around a third of all Heidelberg machines sold in China at our site in Qingpu," says Heidelberg CEO Bernhard Schreier.

"For years now, we have been seeing an increase in quality requirements on the Chinese printing market and among our customers. To be able to deliver this quality with the requisite reliability, we rely on the equipment and services from Heidelberg," says Zhu Kailin, General Manager of Jinangxi Jinrui Printing, at acceptance testing of the new press in Qingpu.

Heidelberg opened the site in Qingpu in 2005 and focused on the production of folding machines. In 2006, it started producing small-format presses (35 x 50 cm / 13.78 x 19.69 in) for the local market. The second construction phase was inaugurated in 2007, extending the production area from around 4,000 to 13,500 m2. At the same time, Heidelberg also started assembling medium-format presses (50 x 70 cm / 19.69 x 27.56 in) there. Since mid-2009, the site has also been producing 70 x 100 cm (27.56 x 39.37 in) format presses. Heidelberg is planning to complete the third construction phase by mid-2011. This will extend the production area to 66,000 m2. In the meantime, numerous suppliers have settled around the assembly site.

Employing around 310 staff, the site produces only standard equipment in line with the strict quality guidelines of Heidelberg, primarily for the local market at present. In future, Heidelberg is planning to export equipment from China.

"By producing standard equipment in local facilities, we are able to offer our Chinese customers in this segment the world-renowned Heidelberg quality at very competitive prices. We will continue to produce our highly automated and more varied high-tech equipment in Germany," says Stephan Plenz, Member of the Management Board responsible for the Equipment division and the site in China.