Heidelberg emphasised the strength of its workflow, service and support offering at its ‘Beyond the Machine’ event this week where guests also had a chance to look under the hood of the recently-installed Jetfire 50 at its UK demo centre.
Managing director Ryan Miles said the UK was “a key market for Heidelberg”, hence the investment in installing the Jetfire 50 at its Stockley Park facility.
“Beyond the Machine is about what we have always done, how we can help play a part in helping you [customers] as you are all on some sort of digitisation journey and pathway,” he said.
Miles also emphasised the substantial investment Heidelberg has made in its service and support offering, both in the field and in the back office.
“We aim to have the right people at your side all the time,” he noted.
Some 60 customers attended, and head of sales Phil Buttress said he was delighted that so many key decision makers had taken the time out to attend.
Attendees included Kirk Galloway, CEO of newly-crowned Printweek Company of the Year Buxton Press.
Buttress said: “It was a really positive day. I think every customer has their own view on what they’re going to do next, and where digital could fit into their business.
“But one thing that’s more and more apparent is the importance of workflow and how it integrates with the offset side of the business – it’s how you produce in the most efficient way, finish it, box the job up and get it invoiced. Customers like the turnkey solution we can offer.”
Of the Jetfire 50, he quipped: “People like the ease-of-use, after two days of training I could run that machine!”
Heidelberg is pitching the Jetfire at runs from “one sheet to 1,500”, according to head of software solutions Paul Chamberlain.
Heidelberg’s Prinect workflow was also showcased, including its hybrid production capabilities in diverting jobs to litho or digital production.
Attendees were also shown a preview of the upcoming Prinect Touch Free autonomous workflow system, which is able to route jobs based on the best options for cost and performance.
Rob Cross, joint managing director at Micropress in Reydon, Suffolk, gave an insightful talk about the future of print from his firm’s perspective.
Micropress has invested heavily in the latest technology and installed the first Jetfire 50 in the UK earlier this year, while last year it installed the country’s first Drupa-spec Speedmaster XL 106, an eight-colour perfector with Plate to Unit automation.
Cross said that the future of print for Micropress meant “embracing automation, robotics and digital innovation”, including autonomous manufacturing whereby jobs just flow through the firm’s factory.
Cross told Printweek that the firm was handling more short-run jobs, but conversely also more long-run work as jobs previously printed web offset migrate onto high-speed sheetfed litho.
He said the £30m-turnover firm expected to increase its use of robotics: “The future involves more robots, alongside highly-skilled employees. AGVs (automated guided vehicles) will be replaced by AMRs – autonomous mobile robots,” he noted.
“We are actively looking at taking it to the next level,” he stated, and concluded on an optimistic note: “The industry is going through a bit of a revolution with the technology that is available and there will be a lot of change in the coming years, make sure you are in front of it.
“I see so much opportunity – print is more alive than ever!”
