"Companies in the print media industry are once again investing heavily. We're seeing an improved investment climate," says Bernhard Schreier, Chief Executive Officer of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg), summing up the results of the Ipex trade show for the printing industry held in Birmingham, UK, from April 4 to 11. Based on levels of orders received during the trade show, the UK and the Asia/Pacific region, including China, are leading the way. Sales of long perfectors Speedmaster SM 102, Speedmaster CD 102, and Speedmaster XL 105 were particularly high, and there is a growing trend to combine these with the new CutStar sheeter. The Speedmaster CD 74 with a speed of up to 18,000 sheets per hour also attracted a huge amount of interest. "The innovation drive toward shorter make-ready times received a great deal of interest from our customers," says Jürgen Rautert, Management Board Member for Engineering and Manufacturing at Heidelberg, commenting on the trade show. Other Heidelberg highlights for visitors were the new Anicolor inking unit technology with shorter make-ready times and dramatically reduced startup waste and new Prinect modules for integrating all print shop processes. Prinect Color Solutions including the world premiere Prinect Inpress Control for a fully automated color workflow were a further attraction for visitors. "Process integration is gaining popular appeal on the market. I have the impression that a large number of print shops are looking for a solution for their business model in this regard," adds Rautert. In the prepress sector, orders for the Suprasetter family of CtP platesetters were healthy. In postpress, the Stahlfolder and Stitchmaster series were also very much in demand. The new Eurobind 4000 perfect binder enjoyed great success too. "Once again, Ipex 2006 has demonstrated its importance to the UK. The UK market is and will remain of particular interest for long perfectors from Heidelberg. A 75 percent market share sets a clear standard," says George Clarke, Head of the UK sales organization, who is delighted with the results of the trade show for his country.