drupa news: Heidelberg still the 'hei' light of drupa

Heidelberg today unveiled the most comprehensive range of equipment for the commercial offset and packaging market including new presses, finishing equipment, platesetters, workflow and consumables. Print 21 editor, Simon Enticknap, was there.

At a press conference held in hall 2 at drupa, one of two halls dedicated to Heidelberg equipment, Dr Jürgen Rautert, member of the Heidelberg management board, outlined the company's extensive portfolio including nearly two dozen new products and solutions.

Highlighting the fact that the cost of print has fallen by nearly 50 percent over the past decade, partly as a result of productivity improvements introduced by Heidelberg, Rautert said it was wrong to talk of price erosion in the industry.

"I call that innovation, not price erosion," he said.

Spread over 7,800 square metres, the exhibit is split into two main areas with commercial print in hall 1 focusing on long perfecting and small to medium format solutions, while hall 2 is dedicated to packaging and large format solutions.

Pictured: Dr Jürgen Rautert introduces the new Speedmaster XL 162 press.

Centrestage at the presentation was the new Speedmaster XL 162, the biggest press in the Heidelberg range, but other presses on display also included a new press for the medium format market, the Speedmaster XL 75 exhibited as a 10-colour perfecting model, a six- colour Speedmaster XL 105 running alcohol-free with UV inks and a 10-colour Speedmaster 52 with Anicolor which now supports Pantone colours.

Also in the press arena, Heidelberg demonstrated a new dedicated embossing and coating unit for the XL 105 that uses sleeve technology for applying an overall embossing or UV coat to a printed product. Heidelberg claims that switching between embossing and coating takes just minutes and that the use of sleeve technology will make embossing a much more cost-effective process.

The product launches in other areas were equally impressive including a new Suprasetter 190 platesetter for the large format market, new high speed Stahlfolder TH 82 combination folder, and Dymatrix 106 Pro CSB die-cutter which features the same feeder as the XL 105 press for tighter integration into the Prinect workflow.

Two of the most interesting product announcements however were not at drupa at all having previously been launched at the Interpack packaging exhibition at the same venue a few weeks earlier. These include the Linoprint, an inkjet system for short-run packaging print onto flexible substrates, and Linoprotect, an anti-counterfeiting system that combines stochastic print and digital phone cameras to enable consumers to verify the authenticity of products such as medicines.

Pictured: a snap shot from the Heidelberg stand.

In other news, Heidelberg also announced the launch of a new Eco Printing award with a prize fund of €50,000 for to be awarded in two categories, 'Sustainable companies' and 'Forward-looking solutions'. The competition is open to Heidelberg and non-Heidelberg users alike with applications to be submitted between June 1 and July 31 this year. The winners as judged by an independent panel will be announced in December.