The company says it will target the folding carton segment with a range of diecutters, foil stampers and folder-gluers, as well as specialised Speedmaster 52, 74, and 102 models with extensive finishing and coating capabilities.
Aimed at folding carton printers, the new crop of very large 54’’ and 64’’ format sheetfed presses will debut at Drupa 2008. Beginning next year, these Speedmaster models XL142 and XL 162 will be built at a 34,000sm plant in Wiesloch, Germany, on which ground was broken in May.
Calling the big press offerings “a customer-driven development,” Roland Krapp, acknowledged Heidelberg’s late arrival in large-format press models.
“We would have loved to see that development five years ago,” he says.
The giant presses will weigh in at 21 tons and measure 76’ in length—more than three times the weight of an XL105 and 30 ft. longer.
The US folding carton market alone will generate $US9.6 billion in revenue in 2006, with 300 firms operating 475 plants. The 10 largest produced 68% of the US revenues. The worldwide folding carton market is expected to reach Euro 39 billion by 2010.
Heidelberg has been selling Dimatrix and Kama diecutters and stamping equipment since 2004 and Heidelberg also targets its flexo/offset DuoPress for package printers.
A FoilStar on-press cold foiling system, announced at IPEX, is also under development.
