Print is often described as stagnant – a sunset industry on the digital horizon. Hyper-competition and overcapacity loom and it is said that short-run printing is the visible meteor in a cooling solar system. Diversification, migration and specialization are the order of the day but for print equipment manufacturers and suppliers, it is a critical phase as the market situation demands consolidation and sustainability as well as new strategies to meet the evolving needs of customers who have to differentiate themselves.
On the evening of 20 July 2015, Heidelberg India organized a knowledge seminar, titled ‘Print, Pack, Fold’ in Delhi, to offer a glimpse of the evolving Heidelberg solutions for adding value, differentiation and efficiency to print. A similar event was organized in Mumbai on 22 July 2015 whereas in Bengaluru it will be held on 24 July 2015.
Ashokan Krishnamoorthy, deputy general manager – prepress solutions, Heidelberg India, and Udo Fiebiger, regional business manager, sheetfed solutions, Heidelberg Asia Pacific, started the proceedings by delving into the updated software solutions that the new generation of Heidelbergs’ come equipped with. “Prinect covers everything from print shop management, online customer connection, prepress and digital print workflow, make-ready optimization, color, quality, machine operation and a full range of services,” Krishnamoorthy said. Features such as the Prinect Press Centre, Printet Axis Control, and Intellistart, which is process-oriented and facilitates automated job changes were described in detail to a large gathering of Heidelberg users.
Thomas Gohl, Asia Pacific sales manager for IST Metz, the UV supplier to Heidelberg presses, was at hand to dispel the confusion regarding the various UV technologies that are being offered by different sheetfed press manufacturers. In his presentation, Gohl discussed the new developments that have been done by IST in the field of UV apart from elaborating on the energy-saving benefits and other pros and cons of the three different types of UV technology which are UV LED, low energy UV, and full UV. Gohl essentially explained which type of UV is most appropriate for which application and gave an indication of the possible advantages and cost implications.
Heidelberg has been restructuring its postpress business worldwide for quite some time now with its decision that it will not manufacture converting products but that its organization is ideally positioned to market these to its customers. Mark Christian Hogan, director, Heidelberg Graphic Equipment, spoke about the new restructured postpress division of the company. “Heidelberg has tied up with Masterwork Machinery of China for the R&D and production of diecutters and folder gluers such as the Promatrix 106 CS and the Diana. Heidelberg will provide the sales, service and spare parts logistics for these machines worldwide. These sort of decisions have not been easy to take and has had considerable impact on the strength of our work force. However, we believe in the capabilities of Masterwork and we believe our customers should have no reasons of concern whatsoever.” Hogan also added that the agreement made last year and being executed from the beginning of 2015, means that Heidelberg will share its own Dimatrix diecutter and Diana folder gluers knowhow with Masterwork.
Hogan explained that Heidelberg has transferred the pneumatic system technology from the Dimatrix to the MK PromatrixCS106diecutterwhichwillrunat a speed of 8,000 sheets an hour with a high pile feeder and delivery as standard. Notably, it will have full body detection for safety and comply with all global safety and health regulations. The folder-gluer will be branded as the MK Diana.
MichaelGao of Masterwork talked about the partnership with Heidelberg and the machines and solutions that Indian customers can look forward to. Gao stressed that Masterwork as a company has been one of the top rung companies in China where it is the leader in the tobacco segment with 117 customers and commanding a market share of almost 90% at the top end of the market. Speaking to Indian Printer and Publisher and Packaging South Asia, he further added that Master work will incorporate the Heidelberg diecutting and folding gluing technologies and improve them further in new products in the future.
All in all it was an evening where the large Heidelberg India sales and service team met its customers and reaffirmed the faith shown by its customers to lead them forward positively in times to come. Peter Rego, general manager of Heidelberg India told Indian Printer and Publisher and Packaging South Asia, “Heidelberg is the leading press manufacturer and supplier in India not only because it is the best in terms of its technology but because of the long-term faith and trust shown by our customers. Whatever we plan to do shall be done in cognizance with our customers. The sales and service capabilities of Heidelberg India have been tried and tested over the years but even then our endeavour will be to improve ourselves even further to attend to the needs of our customers.”
Mumbai hosts event
Following the successful Delhi leg of the ‘Print, Pack & Fold’ seminar, the financial capital of Mumbai was the venue of the second event. Held at Hotel Hyatt Regency on 22 July the 50 attendees included representatives from Parksons Packaging, Temple Packaging, Mail Order Solutions, Lucid Prints, Noble Printing Press, PR Packaging, Velpack, Printografik, Spenta Multimedia, Perfect Print Pack, Kalapi Printing, Jayant Printery, and Smruti Offset.
The topics discussed and speakers were similar to the event in Delhi and at the beginning Peter Rego thanked all the guests and informed the audience about two new orders from Parksons Packaging. “Parksons Packaging has ordered two Heidelberg CX 102 LX presses inlcuding a 6-color plus coater, with the patented quality control system Prinect Inpress Control 2,” said Rego. The Prinect Inpress Control 2 is a quality control system, which automatically measures and controls color and register on the fly and at any speed, inline. With this system, the operator no longer needs to take a sheet and check it. The wastage would be only 40 to 60 sheets a job. “Here I must say that no one can come even close to what we are offering on the Inpress control system,” added Rego. The event was a success in Mumbai and the consensus among the guests was that the sessions were informative especially on UV solutions, and packaging solutions – diecutters and folder-gluers.
