The new Prinect Smart Automation function from Heidelberg makes it easy to switch to a fully automated process for job creation and job processing without compromising on efficiency. First-time users experienced an average of 20 to 30 percent increase in productivity for job processing.
Over the years, Annan & Bird's outsized ambitions have made it something of a bellwether in the industry. Founded in 1987 with a single 44˝ x 60˝ 5-color Harris press and 12 employees, the family-run business by 2007 had acquired a fleet of large-format presses and a lengthy client list.
Following a good final quarter of financial year 2012/2013, Heidelberg achieved a key milestone with a clearly positive operating result excluding special items. Sales were up five percent at EUR 2.735 billion.
Inland Label, a LaCrosse, WI-based custom label printing company which currently operates three generations of Heidelberg’s flagship Speedmaster XL 105, saw in Heidelberg’s Operator Evaluation program the ideal vehicle to help raise its operators’ skills by assessing their knowledge of the XL platform and following up with targeted training as needed.
Suttle-Straus Inc. of Waunakee, WI, reports the installation of a VUTEk GS3250 LX flatbed and roll-to-roll LED UV-curing printer, supplied and serviced by Heidelberg. The new VUTEk GS3250 LX, said to be the only LED machine installed within a 150-mile radius of Madison, WI, boasts higher image quality, an eight-color gamut plus two channels of white, and is more than twice as fast as the company’s next-most-productive grand-format machine.
News on suppliers to the packaging printing industry, including items on design firm Hornall Anderson, Esko/Germany-based Bischof + Klein, Color Ad Packaging, Technicote, Century Packaging, and GMG and matchmycolor LLC.
Featured Products for the flexographic, narrow-web and package printing industries, including Heidelberg, Wilson Manufacturing, Stafford Manufacturing Corp., PFE, SOHN Manufacturing, Wink US, Schober USA, RotoMetrics, Menges Roller Company, Bunting Magnetics Co., The Montalvo Corporation and Kocher + Beck.
Two key appointments have been made at Heidelberg. Jason Oliver has been tapped as the head of Digital Printing; and Stefan Hasenzahl has taken the helm of the newly founded Very Large Format and Postpress Packaging business area. "The appointment of these two executives underlines the commitment Heidelberg has made to the large-format and packaging printing/digital printing business areas," said Stephan Plenz, member of the management board responsible for Heidelberg Equipment.
Last month, Heidelberg invited journalists from Europe and North America to its headquarters in Heidelberg, Germany, to get a year-end update from executives and tour the company’s massive press manufacturing facility in Wiesloch-Walldorf. Among the many highlights of the trip was a surprise visit from outgoing CEO Bernhard Schreier.
I finished up 2012 on a good note, taking part in a four-day program hosted by Heidelberg at its headquarters in Germany. One of the particular highlights was a tour of several halls at the manufacturing operation in Wiesloch-Walldorf. Although the plant was impressive on just about every level, the one image that will definitely stay with me was to see where Heidelberg was training its apprentices.
