The Gallus Group, originally formed as Schuster & Co. in 1925, produced a hand-powered printing press, which became their first label press, the Gallus Junior. In 1950 they introduced the first Gallus flexographic self-adhesive label press at the graphics trade fair in Chicago. In the 1970s, the company restructured their manufacturing processes and invested in NC machines (CNC) and continued to produce high quality flexographic presses for global distribution. In 1999, Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (aka Heidelberg) acquired a 30% stake in Gallus and in 2014 acquired the remaining 70%, making Gallus a Heidelberg company. 

Heidelberg is a brand that is ubiquitous with printing and packaging and has been since its founding in 1850. Today they have solidified their position as the sheetfed offset market leader with more than 40% of the installed market. Of that installed base, 65% is commercial and 35% is packaging. Offset presses, especially those that Heidelberg has been digitalizing, have a long future. Going forward, Heidelberg is expanding their position in packaging with both offset and flexo offerings beyond folding cartons and labels and surely corrugated and flexible packaging are not far behind. 

Heidelberg announced their new Gallus One digital all-in-one press at Labelexpo Americas as they continue to integrate and expand their label and packaging lines. This new all-digital roll-to-roll press has its roots in the Gallus/Heidelberg jointly-developed Gallus Labelfire 340 hybrid flexo/digital label press introduced in 2016. This new Gallus One roll-to-roll press prints at 70 m/min. with a 340mm printing width, which is on the wider side of many of the other all-in-one presses which tend image around 320mm. It uses Dimatix Samba printheads on printbars which are attached directly to the machine, so can achieve levels of print quality that match those of high-resolution offset printing. This is accomplished at a native (physical) resolution of 1200 x 1200 dpi with a droplet size of just 2pl and four different available drop sizes, providing a visual resolution of 2400 x 2400 dpi. The printheads have integrated printhead capping and an automated ultrasonic cleaning system which can minimize manual cleaning and downtime.