• Complete digital printing family opens up new range of applications
• Digitization paves way for autonomous printing
• New cloud-based service platform extends service portfolio

Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) will be continuing its growth course under the motto "Simply Smart" at the drupa 2016 trade show in Düsseldorf. The company will be focusing on new products and concepts from the strategic areas of equipment, services, and consumables that are intended to significantly increase the future volume of business and unlock new market opportunities. These new offerings from Heidelberg are aimed primarily at the growing market for high-end, intelligent packaging and high-quality commercial printing.

The company's entire digital printing family will be making its world premiere in a single category – the "fire" product line. The Heidelberg Primefire 106 digital printing system developed in collaboration with Fujifilm is designed to open up new market segments by making industrial digital printing even more flexible. The close cooperation between the two technology leaders means that customers can benefit from industrial-scale digital printing for the first time. Seamless integration into the tried-and-tested production and management workflow of industrial print production plugs the gap between offset and digital printing. The medium-term goal is for digital business to account for over 10 percent of total sales at Heidelberg.

"At drupa 2016 we'll be showcasing the new Heidelberg – customer-focused, innovative, and reliable," said Heidelberg CEO Gerold Linzbach. "We've set the course for growth and sustainable profitability, and are expecting the trade show to take us further along this path. Serving the largest number of industrial print shops in the sector, our comprehensive digital and service concepts focus on customer benefits as we enter the digital age," he added.

Digitization paves way for autonomous printing
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Heidelberg is also harnessing the benefits of digitization to further improve the future viability of its core business. The company's new "push to stop" operating philosophy represents a paradigm shift in industrial print production with sheetfed offset presses. Processes have so far been actively planned, started, and completed by operators, but the press itself will take over these tasks in future. The operator will only interrupt the autonomous process chain if necessary. With its "push to stop" philosophy, Heidelberg is providing a glimpse of the future of industrial print production. Customers will be able to achieve a lasting increase in productivity and profitability by significantly improving their competitiveness. Autonomous printing will be demonstrated at the show with the new-generation Speedmaster XL 106, which takes industrial print production to a whole new level of performance.

"Heidelberg is an industry pioneer in process integration and automation," said Stephan Plenz, Member of the Management Board responsible for Equipment. "Autonomous printing is becoming a reality. We're expecting this to boost productivity by a further 50 percent in the years ahead, while also freeing machine operators of a significant number of routine tasks," he added.

New cloud-based service platform extends service portfolio

Heidelberg is continuously expanding its service portfolio – on the one hand, to ensure customers' processes and production resources operate smoothly and, on the other, to offer new performance-oriented services through access to the industry's largest knowledge database. The company is looking to achieve further growth in this market segment. The backbone for this new service portfolio is the Heidelberg cloud, which records and analyzes data from over 10,000 networked machines. On this basis, Heidelberg offers its customers preventive service programs to improve machine availability and boost the productivity of the entire pressroom.

?The Heidelberg Assistant concept study provides an insight into the future cloud-based information and service portal for Heidelberg customers. The Heidelberg Assistant gives customers personal access to all information and services relating to their businesses. What's more, it offers direct access to the new Heidelberg eShop, which also provides the basis for attractive eCommerce solutions. Heidelberg has now rolled out its new online shop in 27 countries. Registered and new customers can order consumables around the clock and get their items delivered in super-fast time. It will also be possible to order selected service parts in the future.

"We're taking our customers into the digitized future with state-of-the-art service concepts and boosting their performance," said Harald Weimer, Member of the Management Board responsible for Services. "Our focus is on the benefits to customers. Only if our customers are competitive can we ourselves also enjoy business success," he stressed.