Kennesaw, Ga. – Heidelberg has enhanced its comprehensive Systemservice technical portfolio with an extensive, customizable menu of modular products and services geared toward helping customers reduce waste, increase output and improve profitability on a sustainable basis. 

The Heidelberg service portfolio now focuses on three key areas:

• Technical Services
• Performance Services, and
• Consulting Services

Altogether, the reconfigured portfolio is comprised of 36 different service modules and gives customers the flexibility to choose among them. These modules begin with, but also reach substantially beyond, machine-based services to employee training and optimized equipment performance, to consultative services aimed at analyzing operational strengths and weaknesses and identifying potential improvements.

Based on a business’s specific needs, customers may select services on a one-off basis, choose one of Heidelberg’s standardized bundles, or work with Heidelberg experts to develop a completely customized Performance Plus project that may include elements from each area. All services are designed to help print media companies strengthen and expand their performance and competitiveness in the long term.

“Heidelberg has been building and enhancing the elements of its Systemservice portfolio for more than a decade,” said Ulrich Koehler, Senior Vice President Systemservice at Heidelberg USA. “Because there’s no such thing as a ‘one size-fits-all’ service solution, the current launch provides customers with a comprehensive menu of services and the flexibility to choose among them. Heidelberg’s reconfigured Systemservice portfolio uniquely satisfies customers’ growing demand for increased efficiency and lower operating costs.”

Technical Services

Keeping production equipment in top condition is the basis for guaranteed uptime and lays the foundation for achieving operational excellence. Heidelberg Technical Services ensures this through modules that cover repair service and parts, intelligent support and proactive maintenance services. Benefits include 24/7 access to Heidelberg’s global network of experts, increased machine availability, and higher productivity through rapid support. Options include on-site repairs by factory-trained service technicians (break-fix); preventive maintenance (lubrication, adjustment and parts replacement); and a wide range of Remote Services including troubleshooting, application support, remote inspection and new Remote Monitoring. More than 60 percent of electronic problems on presses and more than 90 percent of reported problems on Prinect/CtP Workflow Systems are solved remotely without an onsite visit.

Performance Services

Even a machine in top running condition may fail to achieve Peak Performance unless its operators are properly trained. For this reason, Heidelberg has extended its Systemservice portfolio to include a range of Performance Services aimed at developing the people who run the presses. After an Operator Evaluation first determines the areas where training is needed, Heidelberg can develop a customized program for those needs.

Heidelberg also can perform optimized equipment maintenance on specific issues with clear goals and benefits. One such program is Print Color Management, a comprehensive service package designed to help users of Heidelberg equipment reach perfect color coordination while reducing makeready times and waste. IT Services, another example, offers a range of equipment upgrades and retrofits, increasing the functionality of your system by adding new features and enhancing existing ones. 

Consulting Services

Understanding operational data and employing the right processes is the 3^rd element that is needed for operational excellence and maximum performance. Heidelberg Consulting Services provide the right data, measuring metrics and evaluation tools to define output through key performance indicators. In addition, process analysis and employing sustainable production methods ensure higher efficiencies.

Through monthly Performance Reviews, Heidelberg guides the customer through the data and provides recommendations on how to improve output on an ongoing basis. During an on-site evaluation, current procedures are reviewed and opportunities for operational excellence are uncovered.  Finally, a customized program is designed that determines savings potential and a project plan for implementation.  With these services, every customer can quickly benchmark his operational performance and determine future potential. 

Performance Plus Projects

When the aim is to optimize the entire production sequence, Heidelberg offers Performance Plus, a consulting project that helps printers increase profits either by lowering costs per job produced or by achieving a higher total output per hour. “Measurable” means benchmarked by the dollars and cents of a target amount that Heidelberg and the customer agree to when the Performance Plus consultation begins. After examining data, plant characteristics, and operator performance, Heidelberg experts work with the customer to develop a business case that calculates achievable savings and identifies ways to make them continuous. Only when the customer pockets the savings does Heidelberg collect a percentage of the target amount as its consulting fee.

As of 2015, 10 Performance Plus consultations were in progress in the U.S. Project duration typically was twelve months, over the course of which 1,000 to 2,000 production hours per project were saved. Achieved savings per project ranged from $100,000 to $500,000 per year. One site marked its best performing month with a 70 percent increase in productivity. Customer testimonials have consistently confirmed the value of Performance Plus:

“Heidelberg Performance Plus increased our capacity to do more with the exact same equipment and manpower,” said Eric Webber, CEO and owner, Cohber Press, Inc. (West Henrietta, N.Y.) “We used the added capacity to cover 26 percent more sales in 2014.”

“The initiative we started with Performance Plus is intended to drive down cost and increase equipment efficiency and flexibility to acquire more business,” said Tim Moreton, president, Contemporary Graphic Solutions (Pennsauken Township, N.J.). “This program builds on [our] internal systems to allow us to offer cost savings through increased efficiencies and allows us to stay competitive.” 

“[Performance Plus] was crucial to identify training gaps, [and to] resolve applications and process issues. We have better printers and quality processes as a result,” said Niels Winther, Chairman and Managing Partner of Think Patented (Miamisburg, Ohio). Added CEO Ken McNerney, “The Performance Data [analysis] and leading by the numbers [helped] tremendously to manage the plant. It takes the subjectivity away.”