Heidelberg

The long-running Prinergy prepress workflow system—developed by Creo and Heidelberg, and now a product of Eastman Kodak—was recognized with a first-ever MUST SEE 'EMS "Legacy Award." "Prinergy was not the first PDF-based workflow, but it stood out as the first product to bring the power of in-RIP PDF editing to a large scale audience," said MUST SEE 'EMS program coordinator Hal Hinderliter."

True to its history of introducing new technology to the printing world, drupa 2012 offered plenty of new things, including a great deal of packaging specific offerings in printing and finishing technologies.

At Labelexpo Americas 2012, a steady parade of show attendees were treated to a wide array of new products and technology demonstrations. A major highlight of the show, the Label Industry Global Awards 2012, took place on Tuesday, Sept. 11 at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago. Steve Lee, vice president of technology at RotoMetrics, was honored with the prestigious R Stanton Avery Lifetime Achievement Award.

Five years after introducing Saphira aqueous coatings to the market, Heidelberg recently began manufacturing the coatings locally at its new Hi-Tech Coatings plant, located in the Detroit suburb of Taylor, MI. A ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the opening was held Aug. 30, 2012.

Since implementing Heidelberg’s Print Color Management color consultation program (PCM), MasterTag has realized a 30 percent reduction in makeready waste and higher net outputs. “We deliver what our customers expect, and have reduced or eliminated the need for color checks,” said MasterTag president Nick Ferris.

Many companies in our industry should receive special recognition for the support they provide to institutions with donations of equipment, software and materials. By providing this support for education and skill development, these companies are creating a win-win for themselves, the students and the industry as a whole.

“HEI Flexibility” will be the theme running throughout the Heidelberg booth at GRAPH EXPO 2012 this October in Chicago. In its entirety, Heidelberg’s booth presentation will represent the ultimate in hybrid, color-managed production: offset and digital united and facilitated by Heidelberg’s Prinect workflow for maximum productivity and cost efficiency.

Thanks to the investment impetus created by the drupa industry trade show in May 2012, Heidelberger Druckmaschinen Aktiengesellschaft (Heidelberg), in the first quarter of financial year 2012/2013, recorded incoming orders of EUR 890 million—the highest figure in four years.

A 2012 InterTech Technology Award was given to Heidelberg for its Prinect Performance Benchmarking cloud-based application that enables printers to determine whether or not their presses are performing below, at, or above the average production of the peer group.

Heidelberg and TU Darmstadt have completed the first phase of the joint research project "Nanostructuring and plastic electronics print platform" (NanoPEP) and have agreed to continue their joint work.