On the Road: Heidelberg Reveals Future Direction, Product Strategy

For the U.S. market, which saw a plunge in press sales starting in 2008, Heidelberg's message was essentially this: "Modernize or get left behind." Press technology has advanced so much in the past five years, noted Heidelberg board member Stephan Plenz, that only printers with the latest technology can hope to compete in the global market. Compared to other industrialized countries, U.S. printers maintain some of the oldest offset presses, according to Plenz. "When I walk through shops in the U.S., the age of equipment is incredible," he said. "The competitiveness to other countries is suffering. You're not able to compete with a modernized print shop—not with old equipment."