Heidelberg's digital portfolio already encompasses printing presses, consumables, software, and services for a whole range of market segments – and further expansion is on the way. As part of this growth, Heidelberg is collaborating with prestigious partners including Ricoh and Fujifilm.
Almost a third of the company's research and development resources are focused on digital. This approach is the company's response to the factors that are critical for the printing industry's success, such as the use of new business models, maximum versatility, and end-to-end workflow integration with innovative technologies.
"Our ability to offer integrated offset and digital solutions for a range of market segments is unique in the industry. This reflects our drive to remain the partner of choice in this sector moving into the future," says Heidelberg CEO Gerold Linzbach. "As part of our expansion in the digital sector, we are investing in technologies such as digital inkjet printing. We are also exploring printing on three-dimensional objects and thus breaking into market segments that are entirely new to Heidelberg."
An example of this is the Jetmaster Dimension, an inkjet-based digital press for printing on three-dimensional objects. The very first application for this system is being implemented at one of Europe's leading online print shops –flyeralarm, where standard sports balls are to be embellished with personalised printing, based on customer requirements. The next step is to move into industrial applications in the automotive or aerospace industries, for example. Inkjet technology could be used to print customised full-colour motifs on cars,trucks, and even airplanes – thereby increasing flexibility, and dramatically reducing costly labour-intensive processes used today.
To ensure that Heidelberg can also rapidly establish itself as a global player in the digital market, the company is widening its range of offerings with cooperation partners Ricoh and Fujifilm, to meet customer requirements with added efficiency and speed.
Heidelberg is announcing the first concrete steps in its collaboration with Fujifilm. Later this year, Heidelberg and Gallus are presenting a new digital printing system for the label market that incorporates Fujifilm technology. This solution is designed to meet the growing demand for a cost-effective means of producing short runs and customised abels.
In parallel with this development, Heidelberg and Fujifilm have initiated a joint project to develop a new highly productive industrialised inkjet-based digital printing system for use in commercial and packaging printing.
Heidelberg’s partnership with Ricoh is also gaining traction with more than 400 Linoprint C digital printing systems already sold worldwide, The company is working closely with its Japanese partner Ricoh to broaden its offerings for integrated digital and offset applications in the near future.