Healeys is now reviewing Web-to-Print options. It had considered this before, but at that stage the cost of implementation was a deterrent. Now Philip Dodd has looked at three options and will shortly move ahead with a buying decision.
"Web to print is relevant to both digital and litho technology because it is all about eliminating administration and cutting cost from our business," he says. "It also opens up new opportunities. We have one customer, a £38m turnover company with eight branches, who want us to set up standard PDF templates, which can be completed at local level and then distributed by us direct to customers without any intervening print. This is not a threat to our print work. We will still handle all their print collateral but increasingly printers must add value to the services they offer and Web-to-print opens up new ways of communicating with end users."

Customer interest in integrated offset and digital print solutions very high

The digital printing partnership between Heidelberg and Ricoh has been running successfully since April 2011. Combining the two technologies enables customers to offer variable data printing and very short runs in addition to tried-and-tested, cost-efficient, and high-quality offset printing. This ensures customer requirements can be met more flexibly, simply, productively, and profitably. "In Ricoh, we've found the perfect partner to supply our customers with solutions that deliver added value and boost long-term profitability. As a result, we've already concluded a large volume of sales and met our targets completely in all countries where we offer the Ricoh systems," says Stephan Plenz, Member of the Management Board responsible for Heidelberg Equipment.

At presentations at trade shows and Open House events, customers have been impressed by the opportunities offered by combining digital and offset printing. In particular, Prinect Digital Print Manager enables seamless integration of the two technologies.

In Europe, Ricoh systems are offered by Germany, the UK, France, and Poland. They will be followed in spring 2012 by Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Austria, and Russia. The partnership agreement has already been launched successfully in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Brazil. In Asia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Hong Kong are already on board and were recently joined by India. All other countries are to follow suit by drupa 2012.

As well as the Ricoh Pro C901 Graphic Arts Edition digital printing system, which reaches a production speed of 90 A4 pages a minute, Heidelberg also offers the new Pro C751 series. This is geared specifically to the needs of print service providers and digital and commercial print shops that handle low print volumes and variable data. A high resolution of 4,800 dpi ensures maximum quality with a production speed of up to 75 A4 pages a minute. This series features three models - the Pro C751 printer version and the Pro C751 EX and Pro C651 EX copier and scanner versions. All models process a wide range of grammages up to 300 grams, demonstrate excellent stability with an average monthly volume of 180,000 sheets, and are ideal for continuous operation.

Under the banner HEI Flexibility, the Heidelberg booth at drupa will be showcasing the opportunities created by solutions ranging from the Web-to-Print frontend and digital and offset print technologies to professional postpress applications.