Printing Industries of America (PIA), the association of the American printing industry, awarded the Omnifire 250 4D printing system and the Stahlfolder TH 82-P folding machine with the renowned InterTech Technology 2016 Award. Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) thus received two of the six prizes for this year. PIA has been awarding these distinctions since 1978, and Heidelberg is now rewarded with the 35th and 36th star for outstanding and innovative products. The InterTech jury agreed that the Omnifire 250 represents a breakthrough in the decoration of three-dimensional objects. The Stahlfolder TH 82-P folding machine was attested a major engineering achievement for introducing the principle of shingled sheet feeding known from the PFX feeder – which already received an award back in 2012 – as shingled folding to all folding stations of the folding machine. Both products were new presentations at this year's drupa and exactly met the needs of the printing industry for new applications and improved productivity. 

Future-oriented digital printing applications

The Omnifire 250 printing system in particular supports new and innovative business models as well as future-oriented printing applications, with which the customer can command attractive prices on the market. This includes versioned, customized, and personalized print products or the direct printing on three-dimensional surfaces. Examples of personalized and flexible printing on various three-dimensional objects are balls, drinking bottles, and other mass-produced items, especially from the consumer goods industry. 

Heidelberg will present the Omnifire 1000, the system's next stage of development, at the InPrint 2016, which will be held in Milan this year from 15 to 17 November. It can be used to print on objects with a diameter of up to one meter.

Benchmark in productivity

The “P” in the new models of the Stahlfolder TH/KH 82-P folding machines stands for the plus points: performance, productivity, and reliability. The PFX feeder forms the basis, ensuring reliable separation of the folded sheets and feeding the sheets to the folding machine in a stream of shingled stock. The increase in productivity of up to 50 percent is also achieved through an innovative sheet guide, which permits shingled folding through the entire folding machine at minimal speed. This means that processing of more sheets in the same time is now also possible in the folding stations. The folding machine can thus keep up with the high productivity of the press. First users report very high folding quality combined with higher output and significantly less time spent – which in turn allows faster delivery to the end customers.