The "Prinect Press Center" control station from Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) has won the InterTech Award 2009 from Printing Industries of America (PIA). The judges were particularly impressed by the Intellistart function and integrated wallscreen.

"In the judges' opinion, the newly developed Prinect Press Center from Heidelberg greatly simplifies operator interaction with the press. The integrated wallscreen and Intellistart function play a key role in this," says Mark Bohan, Vice President of Printing Industries of America, explaining the decision.

Intellistart lowers number of operations by up to 70 percent
The process-oriented "Intellistart" operator guidance increases the productivity of sheetfed offset presses. Intellistart guides the operator through the job preparation stage and creates a new list of operations that need to be carried out for each job change. Intellistart then works through these if possible at the same time, thereby fully exploiting the machine's level of automation. This lowers the number of operations necessary by up to 70 percent, boosts operating reliability, and cuts set-up times.

Wallscreen delivers an innovative edge
The wallscreen, a large screen integrated into the backside of the daylight lamp , gives the press operator a comprehensive overview of all press processes. Press, job and measurement data can be loaded onto the screen from the printshop's network. Operators can therefore access all the information they need for their work. In many cases, the wallscreen also supports print approval processes, with the print sheet displayed in the original size in small, medium, and large formats and ink zones depicted in their actual width. The operator can also visually monitor the feeder area from the press center if required.

Heidelberg unveiled the Prinect Press Center control station, newly developed for all Speedmaster models, at drupa 2008.