The Middle East's first Speedmaster XL 162 from Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) is destined for packaging print shop Mosbah Packaging Press in Cairo. The five-color press with coating unit will be installed this summer in a new 6,000 m² production building. "We are impressed by the high quality and, above all, the outstanding productivity of this press," says Khaled Mosbah, who since 1998 has been in charge of the family business, now in its second generation. With just under 100 employees, the company produces high-quality folding cartons for Egypt's food and confectionery industry. As well as two new Speedmaster CD 102 presses, the pressroom has a Speedmaster SM 74 and a GTO 52. Approximately 20,000 metric tons of cardboard are printed each year in three-shift operation. "We are obtaining everything for the new press - installation, service, and training - from a single source," continues Mosbah. This underlines the long-standing successful cooperation between Heidelberg and distributor Youssef Allam & Co. "In taking this new press into service, we are aiming for strong growth and looking to print up to 40,000 metric tons of cardboard each year," says a confident Mosbah. This represents an impressive growth trajectory for the family business founded in 1964.

The large-format presses from Heidelberg were unveiled at drupa in 2008 and are of interest to industrial-scale commercial and packaging print shops. Speedmaster XL 145 and XL 162 presses are based on the technological platform of the XL 105 and deliver impressive benefits such as faster makeready times, less paper waste, consistently high print quality, good flexibility with a range of substrates, and high availability. The minimizing of makeready times unique to this class is achieved through simultaneous washing of the blanket and impression cylinder and fully automated plate changes in just a few minutes. Last but not least, the Prinect print shop workflow enables this format class to be fully integrated in an end-to-end solution. The machines in this series are also available as perfecting presses.