Heidelberg Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg), the world’s leading print media solutions provider, announced that orders are now being taken for a groundbreaking new solution for digital color — the NexPress 2100 digital production color press. The NexPress 2100 digital production color press dramatically expands the ability of printing businesses to provide new services and produce higher-value print media, including full variable-data jobs. Its rugged, press-like design — built in the tradition of Heidelberg — combines with hundreds of technology innovations to set new standards for image quality, system uptime, reliability, and consistency. The unique, scaleable design of the NexStationTM front end enables customers to purchase the processing power they need for today’s jobs, and to upgrade later as their needs change. Heidelberg will offer the press and three configurations of the NexStation: ·The NexPress 2100, for businesses whose jobs consist of short run and quick turnaround work. ·The NexPress 2100 Plus for businesses who also print on-demand work and some variable work, like personalization and customization. ·The NexPress 2100 Pro, for businesses who also print complete variable data work. Prices begin at about $350,000 (U.S.). Costs for individual configurations can be obtained from sales representatives in specific countries. Here at the PRINT 01 tradeshow, customers in the U.S. and Western Europe can order the NexPress 2100 exclusively from Heidelberg. The first deliveries will go to North American, German, British, French, Dutch and Belgian customers. Further expansion of the sales and service team will extend to other countries. The NexPress 2100 enables Heidelberg to break into a market segment where the company has not previously had a presence. "With the NexPress 2100, Heidelberg is leading the way into the future of digital printing. The increasing demand for on-demand products and one-to-one marketing activities will make this press a bestseller and make Heidelberg one of the leading digital print specialists in the world," said Bernhard Schreier, Heidelberg CEO. The NexPress 2100 complements the company’s DigimasterTM 9110 Network Imaging System, a critically acclaimed digital printing system that is exceeding customer demands for high-volume black-and-white printing. It also complements Heidelberg's QuickmasterTM and SpeedmasterTM direct-imaging presses, which provide quick set-up and pristine offset printing quality for short-run and quick-turnaround jobs. "The NexPress 2100 is a critical piece of Heidelberg's digital growth strategy,” said Wolfgang Pfizenmaier, Heidelberg's Management Board member responsible for digital initiatives. "With the NexPress, Digimaster and DI platforms, Heidelberg now offers the best of all digital worlds for print providers. The NexPress 2100 offers special value to customers who will offer digital services for the first time because it has the versatility to produce a full range of digital work, including variable data in brilliant color." “We designed the NexPress 2100 with the printing customer in mind,” said Venkat Purushotham, president and CEO of NexPress Solutions LLC, a joint venture of Heidelberg and Eastman Kodak Company. "There is no better company than Heidelberg — whose worldwide sales and service organization is second to none in the printing industry — to sell and support it in the marketplace.” Early customers in the U.S. and Europe have been successfully producing paying jobs on their NexPress machines for some time, the first beginning in November 2000. Heidelberg has established a strong sales and service team in the launch markets. This team is able to advise customers on all technical and commercial questions concerning digital color printing, provide customer support during installation and, if necessary, be on site within a very short period of time. About the NexPress 2100 The NexPress 2100 combines the power of a press with the flexibility of a printer. It offers new standards of image quality with patented NexPress DryInkTM formulations and the NexQTM quality-control system. Together, these elements allow the NexPress 2100 to produce ready-to-finish sets, automatically collated, dry and static-free as soon as they hit the stacker at the full engine speed of 2100, A3+ (350 x 470 mm) or tabloid-sized (13.8 x 18.5 inches) sheets per hour. The NexPress 2100 is intuitive to use, even for operators with little or no digital experience. It integrates with current workflows, IT systems and finishing equipment to provide complete solutions for the digital printing needs of today — and for the future. It sets new standards for uptime, with rugged design and the NexPertTM Operator Support System. Virtually every part that ever needs service or maintenance — more than 40 components in all — can be replaced by the operator in minutes or seconds, with no special tools.