The Brandt Company Finishes Strong With Heidelberg Postpress Technologies

KENNESAW, GA—February 21, 2007—The Brandt Company, a general commercial printer located in Davenport, Iowa, has brought increased automation, speed and productivity to its postpress department with the additions of a Stahlfolder TH 82 folder and a Stitchmaster ST 400 saddlestitcher from Heidelberg. Installed in the past six months, the new folder and saddlestitcher have already increased capacity for The Brandt Company and produced some impressive results.

The first project run on the new saddlestitcher was a 40,000-stitch booklet. According to company President Marc Brandt, “The project was finished in just overfour hours, whereas before it would have taken at least 11 hours to finish.” The stitcher has also expanded the shop’s capabilities. “With the tip-in feature on the Stitchmaster, we are now able to offer glue-in CDs, small booklets, cards and other inserts in our booklets, which we couldn’t handle before,” Brandt said.

Heidelberg Stitchmasters run up to 14,000 cycles per hour with a high level of automation and can handle frequent job changes. Heidelberg unveiled its latest Stitchmaster, the ST 450, at Graph Expo 2006. This newest model includes a host of features designed to deliver even greater productivity and increased flexibility while handling a broad range of applications. Equipped with individual mobile feeders with servo drives, the ST 450 can be adjusted to the product and makes it easier to work with signatures.

The Brandt Company installed Heidelberg’s Stahlfolder TH 82 in January 2007, and is anticipating a 75 percent increase in productivity. “We have no doubt that the Stahlfolder will help us increase our turnaround time, and we are already seeing great results with speed,” Brandt said. Features like the Air stream register table with vacuum sheet guidance, as well as the ability to store air settings for recurring jobs significantly shorten makeready times on the Stahlfolder TH 82. Today, the shop is running the folder at full capacity, achieving speeds of 50,000 cycles per hour.

The company chose Heidelberg Postpress equipment because of its advanced technology and the ease of connectivity in working with Brandt’s other equipment. “We looked at many vendors, and Heidelberg’s offerings were the easiest to integrate with our press and prepress departments,” Brandt said. “Our goal is to achieve a completely integrated workflow in the near future, and Heidelberg is helping us accomplish this.”

“From our folders, cutters and saddlestitchers to our adhesive binders, folder gluers and die cutters, all of Heidelberg’s postpress equipment is designed with the latest technologies and features to help customers achieve speed across the shop,” said Ralph Pasquariello, vice president, Postpress Product Management, Heidelberg USA. “Companies like The Brandt Company are realizing the benefits of greater postpress automation in delivering faster make-ready times, higher quality products and expanded shop capabilities – all advantages that can be passed along to their own customers.”

Not new to Heidelberg equipment, The Brandt Company installed a 4-color Speedmaster SM 102 press with perfector and coater and a 6-color Speedmaster CD 74 press with coater last year. Based on its positive experience with Heidelberg press and postpress equipment, The Brandt Company is planning to make future investments in its prepress department, including workflow solutions that will allow its customers to submit and proof files in real time.

The Brandt Company, a family-owned and operated shop founded in 1970, currently has 60 employees and specializes in general commercial printing and packaging solutions. The company serves regional clients in the education, healthcare, service and manufacturing 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.