Heidelberg USA Releases New Product Installation Report

Prepress, Press, Postpress Equipment Installed Around the Country

KENNESAW, Ga. – July 31, 2006 – Heidelberg USA announces the following sample of new product installations:

Trade printer Moquin Press recently installed a second Speedmaster XL 105 - Heidelberg’s maximum performance press, which comes fully automated with two aqueous coater cassettes - to meet increasing demand. The company, which acquired its first XL 105 in 2005, provides specialty printing, die cutting and stamping services at its “one-stop” facility located in Belmont, Calif. According to company president Greg Moquin, the second Speedmaster XL 105 has increased Moquin’s pressroom capacity by 30 percent since it was installed in early May. Moquin credits the XL 105’s 18,000 impressions per hour running speed and larger sheet size (29” x 41.75”) with giving his company “a decisive competitive edge.”

Founded in 1985, Moquin Press has 85 employees and expects to reach $14 million in sales this year. With the aid of its two XL 105s and four other Heidelberg presses, the company produces work which varies in size, scope and complexity, including standard corporate collateral, custom die-cut folders and specialty packaging. Moquin Press primarily services Bay Area printers, print brokers, in-house print shops, designers and other trade professionals.

Malloy Incorporated, a book printer located in Ann Arbor, Mich., recently installed a 2-color Speedmaster SM 102 with perfector from Heidelberg to replace two older SM 102 presses. Peter Shima, vice president of operations at Malloy, reports that the shop’s previous SM 102 presses were at least 20 years old and had produced more than 350 million impressions each. Shima says the shop’s goal for the latest addition is to “produce as much work on one press as we were using two.”

Running at approximately 12,000 to 15,000 impressions per hour, the new SM 102 produces more work in less time due to advanced automation and user-friendly features. The Speedmaster SM 102 was installed to complement a 5-color Speedmaster SM 74 press and a 5-color Speedmaster SM 72 press, which are primarily used to produce book covers.

Malloy Incorporated specializes in producing one- and two-color books for publishers nationwide. The privately-held company was founded in 1960 and houses 320 employees.

David Johnson, vice president of Quality Publishing Co., recently added a new press and transitioned from film processing to computer-to-plate (CtP) to avoid “getting behind the times” and to make his shop more competitive in its market. The Hamilton, Ohio-based general commercial printer installed a 5-color Speedmaster SM 74 press with perfector and coater from Heidelberg to replace a two-color press, handle more four-color work and add coating capabilities, which Johnson says result in “bigger and better color” in his shop.

Quality Publishing also invested in a Prosetter 74 CtP device from Heidelberg to enable more efficient prepress operations and cut costs associated with producing negatives. Since adding the new technology, the all-Heidelberg shop reports that run times have been cut in half due to advanced automation and the shop’s ability to eliminate multiple passes when producing four-color work.

The significant time-savings have enabled greater workload capacity and room for new business opportunities. Quality Publishing’s 10 employees use the new equipment to produce a variety of materials, such as annual reports, newsletters, brochures, business cards and calendars, for its Cincinnati-area clients, which include local businesses and city and county government. The shop uses Heidelberg Consumables products, including Saphira Violet plates and chemistry and Perfect Dot blankets and relies on Heidelberg’s systemservice 36plus service program. Quality Publishing Co. has been a family-owned and operated shop since its establishment in 1953.

Palm Printing owner Randy Hedrick recently “stepped up quality and production” with the addition of a 6-color Speedmaster CD 74 press with perfector and coater from Heidelberg. Installed alongside an existing Speedmaster CD 74 press, the latest addition to the all-Heidelberg shop was acquired to maintain pressroom consistency.

Palm Printing reports that one of the primary benefits of identical presses is the ability to produce same-size plates, resulting in reduced makeready times between prepress and pressroom operations. Running at its maximum capacity of 15,000 sheets per hour, the new CD 74 also was attractive because of its larger format size and perfecting capabilities, which have significantly decreased turnaround times while increasing capacity. Hedrick credits recent improvements in work quality to the Prinect Axis Control color measurement system outfitted on both of the company’s Speedmaster CD 74 presses.

The Sarasota, Fla.-based shop also relies on Heidelberg Consumables products, including Perfect Dot blankets, ink fountain foils, wash-up blades and rubber suckers. Family-owned Palm Printing’s 19 employees use the new CD 74 press to produce publications and high-end poster work for local and national clients in the food, accounting, real estate and manufacturing industries.

Sarasota, Fla.-based Target Graphics, Inc. recently added a host of new equipment to its all-Heidelberg shop, including a 6-color Speedmaster SM 74 press with coater, a Stitchmaster ST 90 saddlestitcher and a Stahlfolder USA B 26. The new Heidelberg equipment is used to produce general commercial work, such as catalogs, brochures, pocket folders, booklets and promotional materials, for a variety of Tampa Bay and Sarasota clients, including non-profit organizations, advertising agencies, developers and local manufacturers.

Shop owner John Masio reports that the new solutions have increased production by 80 percent by enabling the company to seamlessly move jobs through the pressroom and bindery. Running the new SM 74 at its full capacity of 15,000 sheets per hour, Target Graphics credits the increases in production to the press’ high levels of automation. Masio reports, “The new press makes it easy to handle larger workloads and produce high-end, high-quality work.”

Target Graphics’ new bindery equipment has increased scoring and folding efficiencies, thus reducing postpress outsourcing. The most recent additions were installed alongside the shop’s existing Heidelberg solutions, which include a 5-color Speedmaster SM 52, a 2-color Printmaster GTO 52 and two POLAR cutters. Founded in 1988, Target Graphics, Inc. is a family-owned and operated printer with 21 employees.

Mark Lipten, owner of Our Town Publications, Inc., recently invested in a 2-color Printmaster PM 74 press from Heidelberg to keep all work at the Winter Park, Fla. company in-house. The shop also installed a POLAR 92 X cutting system with lift and jogger to streamline in-plant bindery operations. Lipten reports that the new equipment will enable significant growth opportunities for the shop, including a potential transition into four-color printing.

The producer of central Florida’s “Our Town” advertising publication, Our Town Publications has increased control over its product by eliminating outsourcing of the 90,000 direct mail booklets it produces monthly. In addition, Lipten reports that “advertisers have definitely noticed the newsletter’s higher quality since we began printing with the PM 74.”

Running at maximum capacity, the new press produces approximately 800,000 impressions per month for Our Town Publications. Lipten expects the PM 74 to produce some 10 million impressions per year in the shop. The newly-formed in-plant printer also uses Heidelberg Consumables products, including Perfect Dot blankets and Optimol PD2 Grease lubricant. Founded in 1995, Our Town Publications, Inc. is a family-owned and operated company housing five employees.

Nupress, a general commercial print shop located in Miami, Fla., recently installed a Dymatrix 105 CS diecutter and an ECO 105 folder gluer from Heidelberg in its new diecutting department to eliminate outsourcing and expand its client base. The shop uses the new equipment to produce materials requiring intricate cuts, such as presentation folders, press kits and boxes for real estate developers, cruise lines, airlines, cosmetic companies and local tourist attractions.

Litsy Pittser, controller at Nupress, reports that sales have increased by 30 percent since the installation of the new diecutter and folder gluer from Heidelberg. Pittser reports that since the shop no longer uses outside vendors for its diecutting needs, the new equipment has “improved customer service by allowing us to provide more accurate estimates of turnaround times and costs,” resulting in more customers and sales opportunities.

Founded in 1995 by Ricky De La Vega and Orlando Lopez, Nupress prints high-quality materials for a domestic and international client base that includes large corporations, small businesses and individuals. The shop houses 60 employees in its 50,000- sq. ft. facility complete with a pressroom, bindery, diecutting department and prepress department. A Heidelberg customer since its establishment, Pittser expects that Nupress’ partnership with Heidelberg will remain strong as the shop continues to grow.

Chapman Printing, Huntington, W.Va., a division of Champion Industries, Inc., recently installed a 2-color Printmaster PM 74 press with perfector from Heidelberg to replace a pair of older presses and keep pace with its growing volume. The general commercial printer specializes in cut-sheet, saddle-stitched or perfect-bound two-color flyers, magazines, booklets and annual reports, as well as in business forms and tags. The company began steadily replacing its existing fleet of presses with Heidelberg equipment in 2003. “We should have done it sooner,” commented Walter R. Sansom, corporate secretary and production coordinator, who expects excellent results because of the company’s previous experience with Heidelberg solutions. “We don’t buy them unless we get a good return on our investment,” he said.

Chapman also uses Heidelberg Consumables products, including Perfect Dot blankets and ink fountain liners. In June 2006, the company also replaced a much older paper cutter with a POLAR 115 X high-speed programmable cutter with jogger and extended tables. With 150 employees, Chapman serves a regional customer base located east of the Mississippi River. In April, parent company Champion Industries also installed a 6-color Speedmaster SM 74 press with perfector and coater at Champion Graphic Communications, another subsidiary located in Baton Rouge, La.

Lee Printing Company, a family-owned general commercial printer based in Clinton Township, Mich., recently became the first print shop in the U.S. to install Heidelberg’s Saphira Chemfree Thermal Plate solution. The new consumables offering from Heidelberg complements the company’s recent installation of a Suprasetter 74 computer-to-plate (CtP) thermal platesetter.

According to Lee Printing Chief Operating Officer Keith Lesperance, productivity has increased by approximately 70 percent since the addition of the new CtP device and consumables products. Lesperance also reports that the shop was “immediately attracted to the combination of the Suprasetter and the Saphira Chemfree plates,” noting that the low-maintenance plates provide significant time- and cost-savings.

In addition, the new prepress and consumables solutions have reduced prepress production time in the shop from three days to a matter of hours. A Heidelberg Consumables customer exclusively, Lee Printing orders consumables and accessories, such as blankets, sleeves and grease, online via Heidelberg’s Web site.

Founded in 1889, Lee Printing Company employs a staff of nine and offers design, printing, cutting, die-cutting, folding and direct mail services to a primarily local client base.

St. Johns Press, a general commercial printer based in Jacksonville, Fla., recently added a 4-color Printmaster PM 52 press to its all-Heidelberg shop to upgrade from a Printmaster GTO 52 press from Heidelberg. Within two months, the Printmaster PM 52 has produced more than 1.5 million impressions.

Company owner Joe Sabol reports that he is “very pleased with the PM 52’s speed and efficiency,” adding that the press is a “perfect fit for our shop.” The new press provides quick makeready times for the shop’s short-run work, contributing to significantly reduced turn-around times. In addition, the PM 52 relieves the shop’s 4-color Speedmaster SM 74 press by handling some of its mid-sized jobs. Sabol reports improved quality with the new press, noting the shop’s satisfaction with the “very sharp dot” produced.

Producing a variety of materials, such as four-color envelopes, brochures, newsletters and flyers, St. Johns Press’ run lengths can range from 1,000 to 40,000 impressions per job on the PM 52. Founded in 2000, the family-owned and operated shop’s staff of 23 service primarily local clients, including corporations, manufacturers and advertising agencies, in north and central Florida.

Trademark Press, a general commercial printer located in Longwood, Fla., recently installed a host of Heidelberg equipment, including a 2-color Printmaster GTO 52 press, a 2-color Printmaster QM 46 press and a POLAR 78 X high-speed cutter, to support a merger between Trademark Press and another local print shop. Founded in 2001, Trademark Press is one of central Florida’s top 10 business card producers. The shop reports that accuracy has greatly improved in its bindery due to a two-inch cutting feature installed on the POLAR cutter to assist business card production.

With the new equipment, Trademark Press also has improved print quality and eliminated outsourcing of high-quality work. Company owners Katherine and David Gliksman report faster turnaround times due to workflow connectivity, reporting that “each department within our shop funnels work to or from our Heidelberg equipment.” The owners also add, “With the new equipment, we have been much more successful in turning work around quickly, at higher levels of quality than we’d ever hoped for.”

Trademark Press’ eight employees use the new Heidelberg solutions to produce a variety of materials, such as four-color brochures, flyers, business cards, labels and carbonless forms for a local client base that includes small to medium-sized retail businesses and trade/print brokers. The shop uses Heidelberg Consumables products exclusively, including Perfect Dot blankets and PerfectPak packing paper. One of Trademark Press’ business goals is to purchase a six-color Heidelberg press in 2007.

The in-plant print shop for HealthSouth, one of the largest healthcare providers in the United States, recently upgraded equipment from a 10-year-old analog film prepress system to a fully-automated Suprasetter 74 computer-to-plate (CtP) device with Multi-Cassette Loader (MCL) from Heidelberg. Production manager of printing services Danny Kirkland reports that the shop decided on the new equipment because of its PDF integration, dependability and innovative design.

With the new CtP system in place, the in-plant shop has significantly reduced manpower in its prepress department. Kirkland credits his shop’s recent prepress successes to the Suprasetter’s easy integration into the shop’s workflow and overall user-friendliness. Kirkland says an added benefit of the fully-automated Suprasetter 74 is its Multi-Cassette Loader, which, by producing four different plate sizes, enables the printer to boost efficiency with “constant production of plates without stopping.”

The in-plant shop at HealthSouth boasts an all-Heidelberg pressroom, which is used to produce a variety of materials, such as letterhead, hospital forms and publications, for the 1,400 HealthSouth facilities across the U.S. Established for the company in 1996, the Birmingham, Ala.-based shop currently houses 17 employees. A loyal Heidelberg customer, Kirkland reports that his in-plant shop “bleeds gray and blue,” noting that Heidelberg equipment “is just a good fit for what we do.”

Paris, Tenn.-based Abbott Printing Company recently added a 2-color Printmaster PM 46 press and a POLAR 78 X high-speed cutter to increase capacity while reducing the amount of overtime worked by the shop’s 12 employees. “The production capabilities of the PM 46 are incredible,” reports Tim Wirgau, owner, Abbott Printing Company.

The general commercial printer decided to install an additional Printmaster PM 46 press because of its success with its first PM 46, including high production output and easy integration into the shop workflow. Abbott Printing also added a second PM 46 to maintain consistency in its pressroom. The shop invested in the new POLAR 78 X cutter because of the significant time-savings provided by a fully-automated cutting system. Wirgau decided to purchase the new cutter to increase capacity as well as long-term performance capabilities, noting the significant “longevity of a Heidelberg cutter.”

The shop uses the latest additions to its all-Heidelberg shop to produce newsletters, carbonless forms and booklets for customers in at least half of the 50 states. Abbott Printing Company relies on Heidelberg Consumables products, including Perfect Dot blankets, rubber suckers and filter cartridges. Founded in 1986 in Colon, Mich., Abbott Printing Company relocated to Paris, Tenn. to expand its client base, which now includes local and national clients in the healthcare and banking industries.

Communicorp, Inc., located in Columbus, Ga., recently installed a 2-color Printmaster QM 46 press and a Quicksetter 300 E platesetter from Heidelberg to boost turn-around times and improve quality. An all-Heidelberg shop boasting three 40-inch presses, Communicorp is wholly-owned by insurance giant Aflac, Inc. David Smith, senior manager of digital print and small press operation at Communicorp, reports that the new Quicksetter enables the shop to respond to customers faster due to its PDF workflow.

Since its installation, the new Printmaster QM 46 press has increased capacity and reduced makeready and turn-around times in the shop due to its highly-automated features, including automatic blanket wash-up and AutoPlate plate-changing. Smith praises the “high quality equipment,” noting more accurate registration, better fidelity and more vivid solids.

The company uses the new press to produce a variety of work, including business cards, letterhead, product flyers, brochures and point-of-purchase materials for high-end clients. Communicorp, Inc., which celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2006, also uses Heidelberg Consumables products, including Cristala Quickplate polyester plates and chemistry. While more than half of Communicorp’s business is dedicated to printing for Aflac, the company’s 198 employees also service national clients in the automobile, hotel and recreation industries.

CBS Music City Printing, a combined venture between Customized Business Services and Music City Printing located in Nashville, Tenn., recently upgraded its small-format printing technology with the installation of a second 2-color Printmaster PM 46 press from Heidelberg. The decision to purchase an additional PM 46 was based on CBS Music City Printing’s success with its first PM 46 and its ability to integrate seamlessly into the shop’s workflow. With the new press, the shop now can run process color and has seen significant improvements in quality.

CBS Music City also credits recent boosts in efficiency to the press’ advanced Autoplate loading and self-cleaning technology. The family-owned and operated shop relies on Heidelberg Consumables products, such as Perfect Dot blankets and wash-up blades. Founded in 1984, CBS Music City Printing offers mailing and fulfillment and printing services through the two arms of its business. The shop’s 41 employees mail approximately three to four million pieces per month for clients in the insurance and healthcare industries.

Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG
With a global market share for sheetfed offset printing machines of more than 40 percent, Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) is the world’s leading solution provider for commercial and industrial customers in the print media industry. Headquartered in Heidelberg, Germany, the Company focuses on the entire process and value chain for popular format classes in the sheetfed offset and flexographic printing sectors. Apart from printing presses, the product portfolio includes plate imaging devices and finishing equipment, as well as software components designed to integrate all print manufacturing processes. In addition, Heidelberg offers a wide range of spare parts, consumables, used equipment and services, along with extensive training programs provided by the Print Media Academy. Furthermore, the Company assists its customers’ investment plans by offering financing concepts.

Heidelberg is most active within the major OECD industrial regions and is expanding its involvement within growing markets such as Asia and Eastern Europe. With development and production sites in six countries and some 250 sales offices world-wide, the Company offers services to more than 200,000 customers around the globe. Heidelberg generates 85 percent of global sales through company-owned sales offices and well above 80 percent outside of Germany. In fiscal year 2005/2006, Heidelberg achieved sales of Euro 3.586 billion referring to the divisions Press, Postpress and Financial Services as well as a net profit of Euro 135 million.

As of March 31, 2006, the Group employed 18,716 staff worldwide.