German Printer Impressed with World's First Speedmaster CX 102

HEIDELBERG, GERMANY—08/03/2010—"Onward and upward - even against the flow" are the words that drive the corporate philosophy of Druckerei Kern, a print shop based in Bexbach in Germany. "We have always invested in the latest presses in order to offer our customers optimum products," says André Kern, Managing Director. The print shop has been utilizing the world's first Speedmaster CX 102 five-color press with coating unit since mid-May 2010.

The Speedmaster CX 102 for industrial sheetfed offset printing was unveiled by Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) at Ipex 2010 in Birmingham, U.K. "We have made the right choice. We were impressed by the Speedmaster CX 102 right from the outset and the complete investment package has enabled us to make great strides in our industrial production," adds Kern. The package consists of the Speedmaster CX 102, Speedmaster SM 52, and Prinect components for networking.

André Kern consulted a whole host of suppliers before making the investment. "Ultimately we felt we received the best advice from Heidelberg, and the company put together an attractive, comprehensive package." Prinect Prinance and Prinect Cockpit make the offerings and pressroom completely transparent.

The Speedmaster CX 102 has been successfully tried and tested, with Druckerei Kern reporting far shorter makeready times, only half the waste, stable production speeds, quiet, smooth sheet travel, and extremely high net speed. "We were amazed by the clear boost in quality for high grammages and coating jobs," adds Kern. The printers appreciate the press's excellent ergonomics and the fact that everything can be viewed quickly and easily on the large wallscreen of the Prinect Press Center. The process-oriented Intellistart operator guidance enables presses to be set up fast. The press, which is fully integrated into the Prinect workflow, inks up quickly and high speeds are now standard during the production run.

Family-owned Druckerei Kern, whose roots go back to the 19th century, is now in its fourth generation and has a workforce of 35 employees, generating sales of EUR 6 million in 2009. For the last ten years, the company has been based in Bexbach. The French branch in Saareguemines mainly produces large-format display stands, banners, and posters for sales promotion using laser technology. In Bexbach, the full-service print shop produces brochures, catalogs, and magazines using offset and digital printing in two-shift operation. The company specializes in personalized direct mailings and postpress operations, featuring a Flexomailer with a sheet reversal facility that it has developed itself and four Stahlfolder units.

Its production operations cater to manufacturers of branded goods and industrial customers, with a very wide range of run levels and grammages. It prints everything, from lightweight paper to 400 gsm cardboard - a further benefit of the new Speedmaster CX 102. "We are looking to be more actively involved in web-to-print in the future and apply our positive experience of transparent production to postpress with the Prinect Postpress Manager," says Kern, explaining his further plans.

The Speedmaster CX 102 from Heidelberg is the right press at the right time
Lying between the Speedmaster SM 102/CD 102 and the Speedmaster XL 105, the Speedmaster CX 102 from Heidelberg is the ideal press for every customer. As a new market segment in the 70 x 100 cm (27.56 x 39.37 in) format, the Speedmaster CX 102 comes just at the right time for large numbers of customers. The press offers an interesting alternative for many printers who are impressed with XL technology but do not have the quantity of jobs needed to make full use of such a productive press, particularly as it enables them to work with the same plate format. This is confirmed by the high level of interest shown in the Speedmaster CX 102 and the sales successes so far. Over 15 presses were sold by the end of Ipex 2010. The presentation of the Speedmaster CX 102 also attracted a great deal of interest at ExpoPrint in Brazil and at the Open House event for the West region in Germany. Almost 30 presses have now been sold, with buyers including commercial and packaging printers. One in three Speedmaster CX 102 units is equipped with Prinect Inpress Control, which significantly cuts waste and therefore makes a major contribution to ensuring eco-friendly production.

Demonstration opportunities extended for commercial and packaging printing
Customer demonstrations on a Speedmaster CX 102 six-color press with coating unit have been underway at the Print Media Center (PMC) in Wiesloch-Walldorf since May this year. The press is elevated by 500 mm (19.69 in), fitted with the CutStar sheeter and used for both conventional and UV production. The Speedmaster CX 102 is geared toward packaging printing and also demonstrates foil printing.

The demand for demonstrations is so great that Heidelberg will be putting an additional demonstration press into operation at the PMC in Heidelberg. This Speedmaster CX 102 five-color press with coating unit is aimed at commercial printers. It is equipped with Prinect Inpress Control and prints without alcohol, thereby enabling Heidelberg once again to demonstrate its commitment to eco-friendly production.