Commercial and packaging printers looking to evaluate the very latest in sheetfed offset technology need look no further than Heidelberg USA’s North American Print and Packaging Technology Center, where Heidelberg recently installed a cutting-edge Speedmaster XL 105 bursting with features designed to help printers increase their efficiency and achieve greater profitability.
 
“This is the most technologically advanced press installed in the digitally controlled production environment of Heidelberg’s North American Print and Packaging Technology Center,” said Errol Moebius, Director of Atlanta Demo Operations, Heidelberg USA. “Printers will want to see this press in action to understand the benefits of integration and optimized production, and gauge what is possible in their own shops.”
 
Multiple Award-Winning Technologies
The 6-color Speedmaster XL 105 with dual coating unit for aqueous and UV and full interdeck UV drying is the beneficiary of no fewer than four InterTech Technology Award-winning innovations, including the Peak Performance, 18,000 sph XL platform (2007); the Prinect Press Center with integrated Wallscreen and advanced Intellistart software (2009); Prinect Inpress Control in-line color measurement and registration (2008); and Prinect Inspection Control for print and material defect detection (2010).
 
The configuration of the new XL 105 amply illustrates Heidelberg’s unparalleled expertise in sheetfed offset technology and gives printers an opportunity to view the press in action, exactly as it would function in a working print shop. Fully integrated with Heidelberg’s complete Prinect workflow, the new press demonstrates the benefits and efficiencies associated with JDF integration between the prepress workflow and the pressroom, as well as the positive impact Heidelberg Print Color Management (PCM) can have on production by shrinking makeready times, reducing waste, and promoting more cost-effective production.
 
The innovative, process-oriented Intellistart navigation system significantly boosts Speedmaster productivity. While one job is being processed, the next is being prepared automatically. The use of all relevant information relating to the current job and the next one means that 70 percent fewer steps are needed to set up the press for the subsequent job. Depending on the number and complexity of the jobs in question, , annual production capacities can be increased by up to eight percent. Additional functionality includes the Color Assistant Pro for self-calibration of the ink zones with automatic adaption of the characteristic profiles and customized optimization of color presets; InkFoil Assistant; DryStar Advanced; and Performance Benchmarking for Overall Equipment Efficiency (OEE).
 
The new press is also linked to Heidelberg’s latest-generation Prinect Image Control for spectral-based color control and color management, which had its North American debut at Graph Expo last year and will be demonstrated with increased functionality at drupa 2012.
 
Additional state-of-the-art features include Autoplate XL for fully automatic, simultaneous plate-changing; a Foil Kit for specialty printing; CoatingStar coating supply units for aqueous and UV; Pressurized Coating Chamber for specialty coating; Multi-Loader for quick changing of Anilox rollers; fully automated Universal Nonstop Delivery with Heidelberg Logistics; and CleanStar powder extraction system. The press is also set up to demonstrate Low-Energy UV curing via DryStar LE.

Compelling Reasons To Visit
When Heidelberg USA rechristened its Kennesaw demonstration facility in 2010, the new name—North American Print and Packaging Technology Center (NAPPTC)— was chosen to reflect a shift in customer preference for a low-pressure, in-depth learning experience focused on helping printers understand all the ways in which Heidelberg solutions can benefit their businesses.

Today, the NAPPTC not only represents the largest array of prepress, press, postpress, workflow, consumable and service solutions on display anywhere in the world outside of Germany, but also serves as a platform for Heidelberg’s Print Media Academy, which offers need-specific tools, techniques and training to help printers become more capable, profitable and competitive. The activities of the NAPPTC and PMA are closely related to and supported by those of Heidelberg’s Business Consulting unit. Heidelberg Business Consulting experts bring years of experience observing, analyzing and finding ways to improve production procedures while reducing or eliminating waste.
 
As the centerpiece of this state-of-the-art, multi-use facility, the newly installed Speedmaster XL 105 provides serious proof of Heidelberg’s unrivaled leadership in sheetfed offset technology and a seamless example of automated print manufacturing at its most efficient.