Heidelberg Australia and New Zealand scores a big year

The company sold 356 printing units across the range of press sizes during the year, including 100 A1 units and 96 A2s. The surge in capital equipment investment sees the leading supplier enter its next budget year (April 06-March 07) with 45 per cent of its sales target already in the bag.

According to Andy Vels Jensen, managing director, HAN, printers are investing for the right reasons, looking for new levels of automated production to compete in the market. “Printers today are investing according to well thought out business plans. They are looking to add capacity to grow their businesses, cut down on overtime and compete in the marketplace with good equipment,” he said.

The number of long perfecting presses continues to increase with five new long perfectors plus two late-model used machines ex Heidelberg Europe among the full size printing units.

The boom in equipment sales carried through to the finishing with more printers entering the market as the big new presses pile product faster onto the production floor. According to Glenn Plummer, over 50 per cent of the folders and stitchers installed during the year have the ability to be connected into CIP4 workflows.

“They may not all be linked in straight away, but especially in the big end of town, they are investing in connectivity for the future,” he said.

While Heidelberg is enjoying a record year, Vels Jensen sounds a note of caution about the future, predicting the buying spree will run out of steam. He is predicting a tougher 2007 for equipment sellers.