Heidelberg USA Experiences 'Record Year' for Prinect Production Manager
Thanks to printers and packaging converters seeking higher productivity and throughput via investments in new technology and automation, HEIDELBERG USA closed out its most recent fiscal year with very strong sales numbers. Positive amongst most product lines, sales reached record breaking numbers for HEIDELBERG’s Prinect Production Manager and Versafire product lines in the US. Customers who invested in Prinect and Versafire selected these technologies due to their ease-of-use, flexibility, and outstanding price point.
Less Complexity, Better Functionality
First introduced at drupa 2016, Prinect Production Manager is a volume-based subscription offering that ensures customers pay only for their actual usage of Prinect’s smart workflow without needing to purchase individual licenses up front. The monthly usage fee covers the full portfolio of software modules as well as updates and upgrades. This means customers always have access to the most recent version and the latest functions, including hotline and remote support.
In the previous fiscal year, HEIDELBERG USA recorded the highest number of Prinect Production Manager subscription sales since the product was introduced seven years ago. Additionally, the company sold more “standalone” Prinect subscriptions than ever before – meaning the purchase was not associated with the sale of an offset or digital press. According to John O’Donnell, Vice President of Prinect Product Management for HEIDELBERG USA, more and more customers are choosing Prinect due to its “ease of use and better functionality over other more complex workflows.” In fact, despite the challenges and business interruptions that switching workflows can pose, nearly 25% of HEIDELBERG’s Prinect sales in the previous year were from customers switching from a competitive workflow.
“Best Value for the Investment Dollar”
In the past year, an increasing number of printers discovered that HEIDELBERG’s Versafire EV and EP digital print engines are amongst the industry’s most cost-effective solution for short run, high quality commercial work. “The print quality, substrate compatibility, color and registration consistency, and rock-solid reliability of Versafire make it – hands down – the best value for the investment dollar in electrophotographic systems from any supplier,” said Dan Maurer, Vice President of Digital Product Management for HEIDELBERG USA. When combined with the Prinect Digital Front End (DFE) RIP, workflow, and color management technology, Versafire enables shops of all sizes to match offset quality printing on a broad range of substrates.
HEIDELBERG USA is so confident in its product that the company allows customers to try the Versafire “risk free” for 90 days. If the customer is not satisfied with the product, HEIDELBERG will remove the machine from the floor and refund the customer’s money. “We have never had to remove a single Versafire,” said Maurer, “which says a lot for the machine’s performance and customer satisfaction.” Many of Versafire’s newest customers have come from “word of mouth” experiences from other customers that have tried Versafire’s “risk free” program. “We are getting new customers forming relationships with us through a Versafire purchase who never bought from HEIDELBERG before,” said Maurer.
“The quality of the Versafires compared to our previous machines is night and day,” said Josh Rovig, Director of Sales & Production, XPress Printing (Columbus, GA). “The Versafire’s efficiency allows us, as owners, the time to pursue new customers and provide a better experience for our current customers.”
A Front End Designed Especially for Commercial Printers
In addition to outstanding Versafire unit sales, HEIDELBERG is also seeing an increasing number of customers choose to purchase the Prinect DFE as the control system for their digital devices. In the U.S., over 2/3 of Versafires are sold with Prinect DFE, which enables automated and standardized print production for excellent efficiency, greater transparency, and faster job flow. Equipped with the performance for complex variable data applications that other controllers have, Prinect DFE was designed especially with commercial printers in mind. “Simply, the Prinect DFE was designed for what industrial commercial printers do on a daily basis and to make that as smooth and efficient as possible while integrating into an offset environment to make real time decisions of whether jobs are printed offset or digitally,” said Maurer.
The success and versatility of Prinect DFE has influenced some customers to try Prinect Production Manager that have not done so before – and vice versa. “There is a price advantage for customers who combine a Prinect DFE purchase with Prinect Production Manager,” said Maurer, “but Prinect DFE integrated with Production Manager makes the steps from job acquisition to the press all that much smoother as well as color management throughout the shop, preflighting, and job balancing.”
Eric Elder, Production Manager at Impact Printing (Hayward, CA), decided upon Prinect DFE due to its seamless integration with his plant’s Prinect Production Manager workflow. “We love the built-in color management technology of Prinect DFE, but my operators love the ease of being able to set-up and correct multiple jobs at the machine on the fly – ensuring every job prints the way it was intended.”
Customers interested in learning more about Prinect Production Manager, Versafire, or Prinect DFE should contact their local sales representative or email info@heidelberg.com.
The preceding press release was provided by a company unaffiliated with Printing Impressions. The views expressed within do not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of the staff of Printing Impressions.
