Heidelberg marked its 175th anniversary with a week of celebrations at the company’s Wiesloch-Walldorf site in Germany, drawing more than 1,500 guests from all over the world.
The giant press manufacturer took the opportunity to show off its Print Media Centre. Greeting customers, suppliers, partners, politicians, and visitors, Jürgen Otto, chief executive officer of Heidelberg, said, “A warm welcome to Heidelberg and a warm welcome to our ‘Home of Print’, the printing industry’s largest customer experience centre anywhere in the world. We have now been the Home of Print for 175 years!”
Rebranded as the ‘Home of Print’, the redesigned Print Media Centre tracks the company’s growth strategy for its core business and presents future-proof and specific solutions that will appeal to all relevant target groups.
Heidelberg has made various end to end production systems available for customer presentations in collaboration with partners such as Polar and MK Masterwork. These include high quality folding carton production with the Speedmaster series; high volume folding carton printing with the new Boardmaster flexographic web printing system; industrial label production using offset, digital, and flexographic printing; commercial printing; as well as hybrid print production using digital and offset.
The company has incorporated its entire portfolio into a single digital ecosystem comprising Prinect software, equipment including postpress solutions, robotics, consumables, service, training, and consulting.
In its data lab, Heidelberg offers a number of case studies to demonstrate how the company can harness its data expertise and use data analyses to help customers with their requirements and business model – when it comes to solving problems, integrating process steps, or boosting their performance, for instance.
Dr. David Schmedding, chief technology and sales officer at Heidelberg, said, “Our Home of Print reflects our growth strategy for our core business, which showcases Heidelberg as a collaborative total solution provider and end-to-end systems integrator for packaging and commercial printing.”
Cartonmaster CX 145 arrives
Heidelberg unveiled the Cartonmaster CX 145 press for the very large format (VLF, format class 6, 105 cm × 145 cm. The company says focusing in particular on highvolume folding carton production in the growing food, beverage, and consumer packaging segment, sees this system plugging a gap in the company’s portfolio.
The reimagined Print Media Centre will also showcase the Mastermatrix CSB 106 in the Heidelberg design. This high end die cutter presented at drupa 2024 operates at a speed of 9,000 sheets per hour. The company is incorporating the two new machines into the Prinect control software and will also interact with other components as part of a highly efficient end to end system.
Home of Print offers customers and visitors their own experience
Redesigned as the Home of Print, the PMC at the Wiesloch-Walldorf site covers an area of 9,000 square metres.
Each year, some 1,000 personalised presentations take place, with customers usually bringing along their own print jobs so they can thoroughly test the machines based on their specific requirements. Heidelberg has 120 of its experts on hand to share their technical expertise and comprehensive application know how, offering advice and support from the initial preparations through to the follow up meeting after the presentations.
The company also organises open house events for German and international customers. These events focus on the key industry trends in packaging, label, and commercial printing. In addition, Heidelberg provides around 100 guided tours of the PMC every year for visitors from brand manufacturers, schools, universities, and related sectors of industry. The Heidelberg service team receives regular training sessions.
Besides the PMC at the Wiesloch-Walldorf site, the company also operates a global network of further customer demonstration centres in the USA, China, Japan, Indonesia, and Switzerland.
