During drupa 2016, Heidelberg Druckmaschinen AG put a good deal of effort into the debut of “Push to Stop,” a concept said to enable its Speedmaster sheetfed offset presses to run autonomously. Because drupa is a better venue for showing off production machinery than it is for sharing detailed explanations of technical advancements, the debut wasn’t all that Heidelberg found it needed to do to properly introduce “Push to Stop” to the offset world. 

So, Heidelberg decided to have another try. It took place in the final week of October as a demonstration event for customers at the company’s main manufacturing center in Wiesloch, Germany, and as a trade press tour to three German printing companies now evaluating “Push to Stop” for themselves.

At the factory and at the print shops, “Push to Stop” appeared to be doing exactly what Heidelberg says it can do: automating presswork to a point where nearly the only task left for the operator to perform is to monitor the press as the machine completes jobs it sets up, commences running, and OKs for full production—acting almost entirely on its own self-generated instructions.