Ordering print products and processing orders online has become a megatrend in the print media industry. More and more standard print products are now being sold via the Internet. In order to remain competitive, many print shops therefore need to integrate the options offered by the Internet in their business model. Market analyses by Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) confirm that the majority of print shops are already looking to invest in a web-to-print solution in the short to medium term. At IPEX 2010, which is taking place in Birmingham in the U.K. from May 18 to 25, Heidelberg will therefore be announcing details of international cooperation with six suppliers of web-to-print software solutions -Bitstream, BrandMaker,  EFI, MS-Visucom, Neo7even and RedTie. The aim of the cooperation agreements is to ensure efficient and reliable connection of these partners' products to the Prinect print shop workflow from Heidelberg, so that Prinect users large and small in all format classes can unlock the opportunities offered by web-to-print.

"There are already numerous companies offering web-to-print software solutions with various functions. Heidelberg has therefore decided to link selected web-to-print software solutions focusing on different areas to the Prinect workflow and to cooperate with the relevant suppliers. This will give Heidelberg customers rapid access to tailored solutions for the various business options available in web-to-print," says Marcel Kiessling, Member of the Management Board responsible for Heidelberg Services, explaining the company's strategy.

The Heidelberg web-to-print Business Partner Program covers a wide range of applications - from the open B2C (business-to-consumer) webshop for standardized print products for end customers and sophisticated web publishing systems for the professional B2B (business-to-business) sector to web-to-print applications integrated into the workflow in companies' marketing departments. The scope of the systems varies according to the areas of application - from simple solutions to systems with a very wide range of functions.

The Business Partner Program operated by Heidelberg is open to other partners. The focus is not on quantity, but on the benefits for Heidelberg customers in terms of quality, reliability, and the range of web-to-print applications.

RedTie, Bitstream, MS-Visucom, Neo7even, and BrandMaker will be showcasing their products at IPEX in Birmingham at the Heidelberg booth in Hall 8, while the solution developed jointly with EFI will be on show at the EFI booth in Hall 11.