News on Suppliers to the Packaging Printing Industry from packagePRINTING January 2013

Heidelberg: A Year-End Review

HEIDELBERG, Germany—Last month, Heidelberg hosted European and North American journalists at its headquarters in Heidelberg, Germany, to get a year-end update from executives and tour the company's massive press manufacturing facility in Wiesloch-Walldorf.

Overall, the press manufacturing giant was optimistic about its future, despite challenges rising from both digital printing and the changing landscape of print production volume (especially in established markets). Executives pointed to strong press sales in emerging markets where Heidelberg has invested heavily in the past decade. They also noted growth trends in package printing, as well as the expansion of the company's services and consumables areas—which account for up to 60 percent of Heidelberg's business in the U.S.

In the U.S. market, which saw a plunge in press sales starting in 2008, Heidelberg's Management Board member Stephan Plenz, observed that U.S. printers as a whole operate presses with some of the oldest average ages across the globe. These older presses—well built though they are—are not as efficient as newer Heidelberg presses that employ such technologies as Anicolor and Prinect, Plenz said, resulting in less productive, more costly printing. Press technology has advanced so much in the past five years that only printers with the latest technology can hope to compete in the global market, he maintained.

Plenz outlined Heidelberg's current strategy, which has its focus in four areas: emerging markets, packaging printing, services and consumables, and digital and new businesses.

Management Board member Marcel Kiessling, head of global sales, noted that emerging markets such as China and Brazil are showing substantial growth in print production volume—6 percent per year, he said. Heidelberg expects this segment to account for 40 percent of global sheetfed volume by 2015, with a corresponding growth in press sales. The company is expanding its market coverage and service force in these countries.

The packaging segment has been a focus for Heidelberg during the past ten years, said Plenz, with the company investing in press automation, post-press, and very large format technologies. Turnover in this segment has increased steadily during that time frame, now accounting for 25 percent of its total.

The opportunity for growth in consumables was highlighted by Peter Tix, head of consumables. While the worldwide market for sheetfed consumables is about 2.5 times larger than sheetfed printing presses, Heidelberg's share of consumables is about 4 percent versus about 40 percent for presses. At the heart of Heidelberg's consumables strategy is its Saphira product line, which positions the company as a one-stop-shop for its customers.

In the digital printing segment, Heidelberg offers Linoprint C (Ricoh technology primarily for commercial applications) and Linoprint L (CSAT inkjet targeted for label applications). Heidelberg's marketing plans for these digital color presses seem predominantly focused on its base of existing offset customers, rather than on printers that are exclusively digital. Linoprint models are being offered as a way for an offset printer to handle very small run lengths, while enjoying Prinect integration and Heidelberg color management.

Using Prinect technology to integrate Linoprint digital printers with prepress, offset, and postpress equipment and manage the entire workflow was a recurring theme. Demonstrations in Heidelberg's Print Media Center (PMC) showed how its Web-to-Print Manager integrates with the Prinect Business Manager MIS to enable a seamless hybrid workflow for digital and offset printing.

In discussing Heidelberg's partnership with Landa Corp. to develop and manufacture digital printing presses based on Landa Nanographic Printing technology, Heidelberg's Andreas Forer seemed cautiously optimistic. "If everything works as he [founder Benny Landa] has promised, then definitely we have a bright future," he said, alluding to some hurdles that have already been encountered.

During the visit, journalists also toured two of Heidelberg's Print Media Center (PMC) locations, which function primarily as demo centers for potential customers and house almost every piece of equipment sold by the company. Just opened in October, the PMC in Heidelberg (54,900 sq. ft.) highlights the company's commercial print offerings, as well as CTP and post-press equipment. The PMC in Wiesloch-Walldorf (58,100 sq. ft.) focuses more on Heidelberg's packaging and very large format presses. In the future, Kiessling noted, Heidelberg will use these PMC locations, as well as the ones in Atlanta, Sao Paolo, and Shenzhen, as its primary customer contact platforms.

Advantages of Anicolor inking

During the three days in Heidelberg, Plenz and other executives repeatedly pointed out the productivity and cost advantages of using Anicolor inking technology for producing shorter runs. These benefits include 90 percent fewer waste sheets, 50 percent less makeready time, and consistent, even ink application, without ghosting. Users of the Speedmaster XL 75 Anicolor, which debuted at drupa, are selling the 10th sheet, Plenz contended. One of the keys to Anicolor and Prinect short-run efficiencies comes from ganging multiple jobs on a single print run. Using this capability, Plenz said that an average of 12,000 jobs could be run in one day.

Two customer tours highlighted the advantages of Anicolor. Drucken 123, in Aschaffenburg, is a small commercial print shop that runs a 5-color Speedmaster with Anicolor, along with a Linoprint digital press. Owner Markus Müller noted the critical importance of flexibility when focusing on short-run work. Concerning Anicolor, he noted the approach of only dealing with one variable (temperature) to effect control of color quality, saying "you cannot print wrong [with Anicolor]."

A second customer visit to h.reuffurth, gmbh, in Mühlheim am Main, showed a larger print shop. Owner Hans Reuffurth said his company has been a beta site for Heidelberg's Prinect Inpress Control and most recently for its Speedmaster XL 75 Anicolor press. With Inpress, he reported that very little to no adjustment is required by press operators for color control, and with Anicolor, makeready waste was reduced from about 1,000 sheets to about 50 sheets.

Among the many highlights of the trip, journalists met with both outgoing CEO Bernhard Schreier and new CEO Dr. Gerold Linzbach. Schreier made a surprise visit at the Wiesloch-Walldorf facility. Relaxed and in good spirits after running Heidelberg for almost 13 years, Schreier said he wanted to meet one last time with industry journalists to thank them for their years of coverage of Heidelberg. Schreier spoke optimistically about Dr. Linzbach, saying he had recommended that his replacement come from outside the industry to bring some new perspective. "[Dr. Linzback] was an ideal choice," he said.

Dr. Linzbach met with journalists over dinner, spending time with smaller groups during the evening. Having been in his position for just over 100 days, he said he is still in a learning mode. However, he emphasized a priority to restore the company to profitability (sooner rather than later) and to re-establish the corporate confidence that has long made Heidelberg the leader in the industry.

Bobst Rescues Customer
ROSELAND, N.J.—On the eve of Hurricane Sandy on Monday, October 29th, it was "business as usual" for Dynamic Die Cutting & Finishing, located in Newark, N.J. Second generation owner-operators and brothers, George and John Esteva were in the middle of a highly time-sensitive diecutting job for a major customer when they lost power at 8 p.m., having only completed 75,000 sheets of their 125,000 job order.

The aftermath of Hurricane Sandy left much devastation in the Northeast. After two days without power and a job promised to a customer on Saturday, November 3, George and John were anxious to find a way to complete this job for their customer. On Wednesday, November 1 George decided to contact the Bobst office in Roseland, N.J., to see what assistance could be provided.

"Without power, we were desperate for help. I had no idea what to expect when I called Bobst and I did not know if Bobst had power," relays George. "After explaining our situation to Jorge Perez, within one hour, Bobst confirmed we could use their Novacut 106 to finish running our job, which needed to be diecut, stripped, and inserted into cartons. We trucked our job to the Bobst Roseland Demonstration and Training Center on Thursday and began working at 7 a.m. on Friday morning."

The Bobst Novacut 106 ran the job at an average of 6,000 sheets per hour. "Bobst really came through for us. We could not have done this job without their support," says George. "They provide remarkable service and support and we are thankful for this. I was breathing a little easier knowing that I could get my customer's job out. When we finished at Bobst, we went back to our business, which still had no power and the job was sorted, packed, then delivered to our customer by the requested deadline of Saturday, November 3rd."

Wilson Is Vendor of the Year

ST. LOUIS—Wilson Manufacturing was recognized as the FLAG Vendor of the Year for 2012 during the organization's second annual FLAG Members Meeting held in November. An acronym for Flexo Label Advantage Group, FLAG is a professional buying group for independently-owned and operated label converters.

The award was presented to Wilson not only for its dedication to quality and service, but for its partnership strength and support within the group itself. In addition to participating in FLAG's rebate program, Wilson representatives offered various training and educational seminars to group members throughout the year.

"We were very pleased to present this award to Wilson Manufacturing," explained John McKay, president and CEO of FLAG. "Since joining our group, the company has demonstrated time and again their value as a partner to FLAG, and have provided excellent support to our group as a whole."

"It's quite an honor for Wilson to be the very first to receive the FLAG award," said Wade Fouts, Wilson's VP of sales. "Every day, we strive to deliver the finest quality tooling products—and back them with unequalled service for our customers. I think this award helps validate that commitment, and it's a real pleasure to have all our efforts recognized and appreciated."

Multi-Plastics Introduces EZTear

LEWIS CENTER, Ohio—Multi-Plastics, Inc. has introduced EZTear™, a laminated pouch structure for use in easy-open stick packs or similar flexible packaging applications. The new laminated structure addresses mechanical aspects regarding tear initiation and control of tear across the pouch with a more economical option compared to products that use laser scoring to assist with tear initiation or propagation.

EZTear offers easy tear initiation, excellent printability, good stiffness, and high burst strength and puncture resistance. It is designed for end-use markets including powder dry goods (very fine to granular), wet goods or liquids, medical, nutraceutical, or cosmetics. Additionally, this structure includes DiversaSeal® sealant technology, which enables the customer to use one structure across multiple applications.

"This patent-pending technology will revolutionize the easy-tear market," says David Parsio, product manager and inventor. "End users will no longer have to struggle to open convenient single serve, on the go products."

Nilpeter Earns Danish Business Award

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK—Label and packaging printing press manufacturer Nilpeter's commitment to innovation has earned the company a prestigious business award in Denmark, 'Privately Owned Enterprise of the Year 2012.' Nilpeter competed against 3,000 other Danish companies to win the title in a competition run by management services provider PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), newspaper Jyllands Posten, and financial services provider Nykredit.

The judges recognized the management team for sustaining global growth, building a strong international brand through long-term technological development, and efficient business practices. They also paid tribute to the company's strong record on staff retention and working conditions, and its encouragement of creativity in the workplace.

The competition was founded by PwC in order to provide recognition to the growing contribution to Danish GDP and employment made by privately-owned businesses.

Food Track and Trace

GURNEE, ILL.—Leading fresh produce packaging supplier Emerald Packaging is providing consumers with more information on the origins of their food after installing new digital inkjet printing equipment from Domino USA.

The California-based packaging manufacturer, which supplies printed bags to companies including Growers Express, a packer for major food manufacturing brand Jolly Green Giant, invested in Domino's Bitjet+ inline digital printing system along with its Editor GT ink jet and production line controller in order to print unique QR codes onto each of its bags.

The unique codes, which are supplied by database and software management provider Truetrac, contain a wide range of information on the product including farm locations, grower profiles, food safety notices, and nutritional information. These codes are managed by the Editor GT system and printed onto the bags by the Bitjet+. By scanning the code with a smartphone, consumers can find out everything about the product, including the field in which it was harvested.

Emerald Packaging Sales and Marketing Director Todd Somers said: "The Bitjet+ is the first system within the fresh produce packaging sector that prints both a unique QR code and human-readable code directly onto the bag. This is important as it enables the end consumer to track back when and where their produce was harvested and packed. This even tracks the item down to the specific field where the produce was grown."

Gintzler Graphics Buys Second Gallus Press

PHILADELPHIA—Gallus Inc. announced the sale of a new Gallus ECS 340 flexographic press to Gintzler Graphics, its second since the model was introduced at Labelexpo 2009.

The new press will be the same configuration as the original, but with the addition of a rotary screen unit and register control. Gintzler Graphics provides high-quality label printing solutions for medical and health and beauty customers. The new Gallus ECS 340 press is expected to be fully operational by early- to mid-January.

PEOPLE

Innovia Films' has added Dan Galovic to lead its Americas' Labels Team. He brings more than 14 years of experience in the label and packaging market with expertise in product management, market segmentation, and business development.

Davis-Standard, LLC announced that Kevin Coghlan has joined the company as CFO. He will provide leadership and direction for the company's finance and accounting functions worldwide.

ACTEGA Kelstar announced the appointment of Susan G. Kuchta as VP, sales and marketing for the company's North American business. She is replacing Stephane Fortin, who is leaving to pursue an entrepreneurial ownership opportunity in Canada.

Presstek, Inc. announced that John Meyer has been promoted to VP marketing, responsible for driving the company's worldwide product strategy and marketing efforts. In addition, Presstek has appointed Ralph Jenkins to director of sales, CTP and indirect channels. In this expanded position, he will retain his dealer management role as well as assume responsibilities in CTP sales.

Color-Logic has named Sherwood Wong as its sales representative for Northern California, Oregon, Washington, and nearby areas.

Harris & Bruno International announced Christopher Hogge has been promoted to regional sales manager, focusing on the Western United States.

Apex Group has appointed Dênis Niubó as its sales director for Latin America and incorporated Dercilio Oliveira as chief printing process officer for the North American commercial organization.

GPA has added two new members as territory sales managers: B. Talmadge Pearson will serve the markets of Virginia, North Carolina, and Southern Florida; and Tina Ling, will serve the substrate needs of Northern California, San Diego, and Hawaii.

Container Graphics Corporation recently appointed Jim Lawler as its western regional sales manager.

manroland sheetfed has appointed Rich Grobarek to the position of PRINTVALUE consultant for the central region including the states of Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Texas, Oklahoma, and parts of Pennsylvania.

Mark Wodrich has joined Davis-Standard as its district sales manager for blown film. He will be responsible for blown film sales covering a 16-state territory throughout the Pacific West, Mountain West, Upper Midwest, and Arkansas, as well as western Canada.

Enfocus announced the appointment of Tom Hackett to its North American support group as product specialist. He will support its complete line of products including Switch, PitStop Pro, PitStop Server, and PitStop Connect. pP

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Supplier News - January 2013