NEW YORK, April 7, 2003 - This week at On Demand, Heidelberg will unveil new equipment, workflow tools and business solutions designed to drive productivity, efficiency and profitability among digital printers. From new digital devices to business consulting services, Heidelberg remains a total solutions provider for the entire digital printing industry. Heidelberg's show theme, "Digital Inspirations," reinforces the company's heritage and commitment to digital innovation. By introducing relevant solutions and equipment, establishing business partnerships and driving profit-making endeavors, Heidelberg continues to inspire greatness in the digital print industry much in the same way it has among commercial printers for the last 150 years. "Heidelberg has been introducing digital innovations to the printing industry for more than a decade and we realize we are in a new era where productivity and profitability requirements involve a different solution for each customer," said Bill Blair, senior vice president, Heidelberg Digital. "Heidelberg recognizes the diverse needs of all parties involved in the digital printing revolution. But no matter who the partners may be - graphic designers, print buyers, educators, or printers themselves - Heidelberg can eliminate the limitations that were once part of their businesses." At this year's On Demand, Heidelberg will demonstrate new technologies as well as inventive ways to drive business solutions and help printers drive profitability. A summary of Heidelberg's top announcements follows. NexStation II: Enhanced Performance, Productivity for NexPress 2100 Owners The NexStation II digital front end combined with the version 2.0 software will be unveiled in the U.S. at On Demand. It offers NexPress 2100 owners digital production color press enhanced productivity, functionality and greater ease-of-use with new hardware and software capabilities. A substrate assistant enables users to qualify papers themselves, prepare their NexPress 2100 for a specific paper and immediately print a customer job. Rush jobs can be inserted into any stage of the print queue and RIPing speed is also increased. NexStation II will be available through Heidelberg worldwide in May and offered in three different configurations to meet the needs of NexPress 2100 owners. Profitability Enhancement Program: Boosting the Bottom Line The Profitability Enhancement Program, launched today at On Demand, is designed to share tools and information that will help NexPress 2100 customers markedly reduce costs and increase profitability. The program defines the maximum cost per page a printer will pay for DryInk and Operator Replaceable Components, which are key to the overall NexPress solution. Under the program, when a customer provides trained operators, performs required machine maintenance, inputs usage data into the user interface, provides remote access and follows cost reduction recommendations, Heidelberg guarantees the annual ORC and consumables cost per page will not exceed a specific amount. However, customers can drive costs lower by wisely managing their presses and capture these savings for their own businesses. Digimaster 9110cp: Handling the Most Demanding Digital Jobs The Digimaster 9110cp Network Imaging System, also shown for the first time in the U.S. at On Demand, is designed to help commercial printers handle their most demanding digital, high-volume black-and-white print jobs. The newest member of Heidelberg's family of Digimaster products, the 9110cp offers specific enhancements for the commercial print market, including handling a broader array of paper sizes and heavier-coated stocks along with labels and plastics. The new press also offers pre-loaded software that reduces installation time and easily integrates with existing workflow solutions, including Heidelberg MetaDimension. Digimaster 9110m: Reliability for Data Centers, Transactional Environments The Digimaster 9110m Network Imaging System, which features magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) toner and special fonts and characters, provides data centers and transactional printing environments the ability to print a variety of applications, including checks, rebates, coupons and other financial documents. It also provides unmatched flexibility to produce non-MICR jobs simply by switching the toner station. Now available through Heidelberg USA, the 9110m upholds the same proven image quality and reliability of the Digimaster product family. Duplo System 2100: Cost-Effective Booklet Making for Customized Pieces The Duplo System 2100, introduced at On Demand, is the first finishing solution that takes collated output from a NexPress 2100 press, automatically folds, stitches and trims it into a finished booklet, and verifies its integrity. The booklet maker works with all output from the NexPress 2100 press. Its optional bar code reader also makes it ideal for finishing variable data applications that contain customer-specific information on every page. The Duplo System is now available through select Heidelberg Market Centers at a manufacturer's suggested base price of $75,000, and $4,500 for the bar-code reader kit. Probinder finishing solution for digital and offset printing now available in U.S. Probinder, introduced at CeBIT 2003, offers an innovative new finishing system for double-loop wire comb binding. Available inline, nearline and offline, the Probinder can accommodate two to 200 sheets of 55-lb. offset or 30-lb. cover with a maximum document thickness of ¾". Makeready time is not required -- at the touch of a button, the Probinder adjusts automatically to the correct document thickness. When integrated into Heidelberg's Digimaster 9110 digital press, the Probinder produces documents ready for immediate delivery. ImageSmart 2.2: Powerful, Versatile Digital Prepress Production Software ImageSmart Document Mastering 2.2 software enables greater digital prepress productivity for the Digimaster family of print solutions. It employs the industry-standard PDF-based workflow for complex production jobs, making it ideal for frequent reprinting, repurposing and editing. The software also creates greater collaboration between the printer and customer by allowing easy sharing of PDF documents - regardless of the application they were originally created in. Among the key components: enhanced Heidelberg SmartBoard 1.2, a new tab creation tool and an enhanced image-editing tool. Professional Services Group: Helping Customers Optimize a Seamless Workflow The Professional Services Group, launched today at On Demand, is designed to help digital print customers increase profitability by optimizing workflow solutions and increasing process efficiency. The group, comprised of a team of Heidelberg engineers, product development managers and business development experts, is dedicated to provide complete solutions to Heidelberg's digital print customers by integrating Heidelberg's digital print devices and software workflow products with existing workflows, legacy systems and devices at the customer site. The scope of this consulting and integration group is to help customers reach the next level of process improvements, whether that means optimizing the entire print production process or smoothly integrating Heidelberg products. Business Development Services: Sales, Marketing Support Helps Raise Revenue Heidelberg's Business Development Services, highlighted during the company's press event by director Richard Sand, provides sales and marketing support to Heidelberg's digital customers. The division, formed more than two years ago, uses training, consulting and marketing assistance to help Heidelberg's customers integrate digital printing with traditional offset printing solutions. It develops and implements training, tools, volume-building activities and other programs that help Heidelberg's customers succeed and realize the full potential offered by digital and variable data printing. Prinect Printready: Fast, Efficient Transparent Production Prinect Printready is a member of the Prinect family of workflow solutions delivering seamless connectivity among all printing processes. It allows for all pre-press processes - including preflighting, state-of-the-art color management, trapping, imposition, proofing, final plate output and archiving - to be automated transparently. Printready even optimized subsequent press and post-press functions such as ink zone settings and the transfer of cutting, folding and stitching information. As the first fully JDF-enabled product of its kind, Prinect Printready is modular and able to fit with any production need.