Heidelberg has announced it is very pleased with its showing at the drupa trade fair in Düsseldorf. The Heidelberg stand attracted a great deal of interest from customers around the world, the company says, who also invested in the innovations at the show. The large number of orders placed during the event has led to a recovery in incoming orders at Heidelberg at the start of financial year 2024/2025 and, consequently, to higher capacity utilization in production. Short time working at the German sites will end as early as June 2024.

“Our drupa team won over customers with a fabulous stand and future-proof innovations. The positive spirit among customers and staff alike was simply mind-blowing,” says David Schmedding, head of sales and marketing at Heidelberg and board member for Sales and Service with effect from July 1. “Heidelberg is a true partner of the printing and packaging industry. The large number of orders placed across all technologies during the trade show emphasizes our customers’ trust in the company as a leading system provider,” he adds.

Daily presentations focused on numerous innovations in commercial and package printing, demonstrating how customers can use the technologies to harness and develop their business potential to optimum effect. “We offer the entire spectrum – from toner to inkjet and from offset to flexo printing – all controlled from a common Prinect workflow,” continues Schmedding.

Heidelberg is aiming to use the collaboration with Canon that was announced at drupa to leverage its growth potential in inkjet printing. Orders in the mid-double-digit range have already been placed for the new Jetfire 50 inkjet system from Heidelberg. The main purpose of the newly unveiled product portfolio is to address the growing demand in the commercial printing sector for industrial production based on inkjet technology. With the Gallus Labelfire and the Gallus One for label printing, Heidelberg says it has already proved it can provide successful inkjet solutions for industrial applications.

Integrated offset and digital technologies becoming increasingly important
Heidelberg also used drupa to showcase end-to-end solutions based on a single system supporting both offset and digital printing. This capability ensures maximum flexibility and cost-effectiveness, especially in the commercial sector. By combining its offset and digital printing expertise in this way, the company will provide customers a hybrid solution for optimum cost-effectiveness in the future.

In the packaging segment, Heidelberg will expand the range of applications for the new Boardmaster inline flexographic web printing machine to include the area of flexible paper (flexible paper packaging). Due to the growing global demand for sustainable, cost-effective, recyclable, or compostable packaging, the “Flexible Paper” area will develop positively.