Heidelberg

News on suppliers to the packaging printing industry, including items on Heidelberg, Bobst, Wilson Manufacturing, Multi-Plastics Inc., Nilpeter, Emerald Packaging and Gintzler Graphics.

The Speedmaster XL 106, which premiered at drupa 2012, immediately became a bestseller upon its introduction. Not only was the press well received among highly-industrialized commercial printers, but packaging printers also took to the press because of its productivity of 18,000 sheets per hour with one- or two-color reverse-side printing.

Bernhard Schreier, retiring CEO of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen, paid a surprise visit to a group of U.S. and European journalists who were touring Heidelberg’s Wiesloch-Walldorf facility in Germany on Tuesday. North American Publishing Co. taped an exclusive video of Schreier's address, which he said was his last official action with Heidelberg.

NPES has elected four new directors and has re-elected several returning directors to the NPES Board during its business meeting on November 12 at the organization's 2012 Annual Conference in Indian Wells, CA.

Heidelberg revealed that its sales in the second quarter climbed to EUR 697 million—10 percent up on the same period in the previous year (EUR 636 million). "Development in the industry continues to be stable and demand for our products is robust," said Heidelberg CEO Gerold Linzbach. "Based on the current financial year to date, we are confident we will meet our targets."

Large-format offset press suppliers are working to keep pace with the industry's needs for higher efficiencies by offering faster speeds, quicker makereadies, and a high-degree of on-press automation. Printers are investing in the latest technology developments to improve productivity in their operations and to attract new business and new customers.

At the two-day international Prinect User Days 2012 conference in Heidelberg, Germany, more than 300 participants from all over Europe had the opportunity to attend numerous workshops, share ideas, and take part in user discussions.

News on suppliers to the packaging printing industry, including items on Brandtjen & Kluge, Girl Scout Cookies and Anthem Worldwide, Heidelberg, EFI and Online Print Solutions (OPS), Schober USA, Trelleborg, Siegwerk Canada and USA (CUSA), Anderson & Vreeland, Channeled Resources Group, Davis-Standard, Harris & Bruno, Elsner Engineering, UEI Group and Southern Lithoplate, Inc.

Relative to digital printing for packaging, drupa 2008 was a time for investigation and generalized discussion regarding product concepts and market requirements.

The long-running Prinergy prepress workflow system—developed by Creo and Heidelberg, and now a product of Eastman Kodak—was recognized with a first-ever MUST SEE 'EMS "Legacy Award." "Prinergy was not the first PDF-based workflow, but it stood out as the first product to bring the power of in-RIP PDF editing to a large scale audience," said MUST SEE 'EMS program coordinator Hal Hinderliter."