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News from Heidelberger: ‘4D Printing,’ Ricoh and FujiFilm Partnerships, Inkjet, More

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German company Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG – long known as the maker of “big iron” offset presses for commercial printing – recently shared news on some of its latest technology and initiatives, including “4D printing” (above) for printing on 3D objects.

Ricoh and FujiFilm Parternships

Heidelberg says it’s provides customers with the ability to run both offset and digital technologies together using a user-friendly and integrated process. The company’s digital-printer portfolio already encompasses printing presses, consumables, software, and services for a wide range of market segments, and it says further expansion is on the way. As part of this growth, Heidelberg is collaborating with partners such as Ricoh and Fujifilm. It also says almost a third of its research and development resources is now focused on digital printing.
“Our ability to offer integrated offset and digital solutions for a range of market segments is unique in the industry. This reflects our drive to remain the partner of choice in this sector moving into the future,” says Heidelberg CEOGeroldLinzbach. “As part of our expansion in the digital sector, we are investing in technologies such as digital inkjet printing. We are also exploring printing on three-dimensional objects and thus breaking into market segments that are entirely new to Heidelberg. Overall, we estimate that the digital sector offers us sales potential of more than EUR 200 million per year in the medium term.”Heidelberg is widening its range of offerings with partners Ricoh and Fujifilm. It says future partnerships will also enable it to break into new markets, an example of which is printing on 3D objects.

FujiFilm Partnership and New Inkjet Printing System

Heidelberg is announcing the first steps in its collaboration with Fujifilm. In the fall of this year, Heidelberg and Gallus are presenting a new digital printing system for the label-printing market that incorporates Fujifilm technology. This solution is designed to meet the growing demand for a cost-effective means of producing short runs and customized labels.

Heidelberg and Fujifilm are also initiating a joint project to develop a new industrialized inkjet-based digital printing system for use in commercial and packaging printing.

Ricoh Partnership

With more than 400 Linoprint C digital printing systems already sold worldwide, Heidelberg says it’s the only manufacturer in the industry to successfully market integrated digital- and offset-printing applications. The company is working closely with its Japanese partner Ricoh to broaden its offerings for this sector in the near future. Heidelberg currently generates sales of Linoprint products in the low eight-figure euro range, and these figures are set to grow, as more and more presses are installed and demand for the associated consumables continues to grow.

Along with this, Heidelberg offers its Prinect print-shop workflow software for managing production-print processes in the print shop into one standardized workflow. The firm says Prinect has already generated sales in the mid eight-figure euro range with these offerings, and plans to expand this sector with new products, for example in Web-to-print, and multi-channel publishing.

New “4D” Printing Solution

The Jetmaster Dimension from Heidelberg is an inkjet-based digital press for printing on three-dimensional objects. The very first application for this system is being implemented at one of Europe’s leading online print shops – flyeralarm, where standard “sports balls” are to be embellished with personalized printing. The next step is to move into industrial applications in the automotive or aerospace industries. For instance, this 4D printing could be used to print customized full-color motifs on cars, trucks, and even on airplanes, dramatically reducing costly labor-intensive processes used today. The overall market volume for printing on objects – in the consumer goods and industrial sectors – is estimated at several hundred million euros in the medium and long term.

For more information on Heidelberger, visit the company here.