Heidelberg has moved into industrial digital printing with its drupa 2024 Jetfire launch. The offset press giant has based the Jetfire systems on inkjet technology from cooperation partner Canon.
The company will integrate its new Jetfire family into the Heidelberg ecosystem via its Prinect workflow.
The company thus offers end-to-end solutions that support both offset and digital printing from a single system, ensuring maximum flexibility and cost-effectiveness, particularly in the commercial sector.
Dr David Schmedding, head of sales at Heidelberg, says, “Our aim is to offer our customers who want to operate offset and digital presses simultaneously an attractive and integrated service and product portfolio.”
Heidelberg and Canon see growth potential in the expansion of inkjet printing and want to jointly establish this technology in the printing industry for industrial production. With this step, Heidelberg is also adding sheetfed inkjet solutions to its portfolio alongside toner based Versafire systems and sheetfed offset presses.
Industrial solutions
Initially, Heidelberg will offer an existing B3 digital printing system from Canon with corresponding integration into the Prinect workflow, its own service and consumables under the name Jetfire 50 from drupa 2024 in Düsseldorf.
It plans to deliver the machine to customers from the first quarter of 2025. In a further phase, Heidelberg expects to offer an inkjet digital printing press in B2 format for commercial printing from mid-2025, with first shipments planned for early 2026. This machine will use inkjet technology, offered as the Jetfire 75 from Heidelberg.
The company’s intention is for the new digital printing systems to operate fully automatically in an integrated system together with offset presses using Prinect Touch Free via the Prinect workflow.
Schmedding says, “Heidelberg is the partner for printing companies that can supply and integrate all modern technologies in a technology-neutral and demand-oriented manner. We offer the entire spectrum from toner to inkjet, from offset printing to flexo printing, controlled from a common Prinect workflow.”
Digital labels
Heidelberg offers the Gallus Labelfire and the Gallus One for label printing, saying it can already provide successful inkjet solutions in an industrial environment. In addition, the company has established more than 3,000 Versafire toner-based digital printing installations and over 1,500 integration projects with digital printing machines from other manufacturers in the market.
According to market estimates, the addressable digital printing market Heidelberg, including service and consumables, will grow from around €5bn ($8.8bn) today to €8bn ($14.1bn) by 2028. The company aims to significantly increase its turnover with digital printing solutions in the medium term.
Jetfire 50 arrives
Heidelberg says the Jetfire 50, in B3 sheetfed format, combines the flexibility benefits of digital printing with the stability of inkjet for commercial printing. It prints 9,120 SRA3 sheets per hour. The company expects delivery to customers from the first quarter of 2025.
Technical features:
Jetfire 50 productivity of 9,120 SRA3 sheets per hour (equivalent to around 18,000 A4 pages/hour)
Up to 2.5 million SRA3 duplex sheets per month
Sustainable water-based inkjet with 1200 dpi x 1,200 dpi
Grammage: 60 – 350 g/m²
Integrated in Heidelberg Prinect Workflow
Sales for Jetfire 75 from Heidelberg in B2 format expected from mid-2025, with first shipments planned for early 2026
Jetfire 75
The Jetfire 75, based on inkjet technology in B2 sheetfed format, aims to set new standards in industrial digital printing. The system can print 8,700 B2 sheets per hour, making it more than twice as fast as previous machines on the market, according to Heidelberg, which says tThe resulting print capacity of up to 54 million B2 sheets per year achieves high industrial performance in commercial printing. Its paper format of 61 x 75 cm wnables productive printing for brochures, books and other commercial jobs, as well as special formats such as posters, six-up banners or variable and numbered jobs.
Technical features:
Industrial productivity 8,700 B2 sheets per hour (equivalent to around 35,000 A4 pages/hour)
Up to 54 million B2 sheets per year print capacity
Grammage: from 60 – 450 g/m²
Sustainable water-based inkjet with 1,200 dpi x 1,200 dpi
Will be integrated in Heidelberg Prinect Workflow
