The two German printing houses offer a study in contrasts: one a small, quick-turnaround operation edging toward the next step in its evolution as a business; the other a high-end commercial lithographer radiating affluence and success after steady progress to the forefront of the trade. Together they provide an aspirational lesson for printers everywhere who want to know how far investments in production technologies can take growth-minded companies.

What drucken123 and h. reuffurth gmbh have in common are their customer relationships with Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG, an equipment manufacturer that has supplied both firms with their mainstay production systems. Heidelberg arranged media tours of the plants as part of a year-end strategy briefing that it hosted at its world headquarters in Heidelberg, Germany, last month.

For Heidelberg, the two companies serve as case studies for the benefits of Anicolor, an offset inking technology that the manufacturer promotes as an alternative to digital printing for short-run work. The proprietors of both plants told visiting journalists that Anicolor, with its rapid color OKs and scant makeready waste, was key to maintaining the quality and throughput that servicing their short-run clientele demands.