Page 44 - Print21 November-December 2021

Offset
Heidelberg goes into
the cloud with Analytics
The press giant has launched its first cloud-based Prinect app, Print Shop Analytics, which is part of the press giant's new Heidelberg Plus digital ecosystem.
Heidelberg says its future applications will make full use of cloud technologies, IoT, Big Data, and AI. Launched at its Innovation
Week event, Heidelberg Plus is the gateway to the new digital ecosystem and customer portal, which includes the new Prinect app, as well as the Heidelberg eShop and Heidelberg Assistant production data.
According to the company the
Prinect Print Shop Analytics app offers an integrated solution that records, evaluates, and monitors the KPIs of
a print shop in real time, online, to optimise production by suggesting action with the help of artificial intelligence.
“With the first Prinect app available in Heidelberg Plus, our Heidelberg digital ecosystem is gaining momentum, and the customer benefits of digitisation are becoming increasingly apparent,” said Ludwig Allgoewer, global head of Sales and Marketing at Heidelberg.
“Market surveys have shown that our customers urgently want the functions of an app like Prinect Print Shop Analytics that they can use to quickly boost efficiency while systems are running, and also reduce costs at the same time."
The app was developed following talks with 200 printers around the world, and in collaboration with customer Pinguin Druck in Berlin, which runs two XL106
eight-colour presses, and according to Heidelberg’s head of software solutions Christopher Berti the collaboration ensured that functions included in the app reflect actual market demand.
“Print Shop Analytics is becoming a
game changer in our day-to-day work,”
said Alexander Mende, managing director at Pinguin Druck. “I will now be notified immediately by Print Shop Analytics if one of our printing presses fails or the print shop misses its targets. These notifications are set according to my personal preferences and I can see the detailed data immediately.” Print Shop Analytics is currently set for sheetfed presses, but prepress and finishing will be added in the future.
With Heidelberg Plus, the company says it is combining existing digital applications with new services for customers. It says that in the future, a single point of access is all users will need for a complete overview of all the digital tools and services in the Heidelberg portfolio.
“Key elements of the Heidelberg
digital ecosystem such as HDA and
the eShop have already developed
very encouragingly,” said Allgoewer.
“By merging these and other existing applications, and also integrating new ones, we will further enhance the benefits for our customers.”
Heidelberg says the Prinect app, which is easy to access with a single login, will be available to customers next year. 21
44 Print21 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021
Into the cloud: Heidelberg
Heidelberg seeing market recovery everywhere
Rainer Hunsdorfer, CEO at offset press giant Heidelberg, says the company is seeing a surge in orders and investments in its print solutions from
“all over the world” with printers “looking to invest in new products” on the back of “market recovery everywhere” from the impact of Covid.
Speaking to print industry journalists at the company’s Innovation Week, Hunsdorfer said Heidelberg was “increasingly optimistic” both for its own business and for the print industry. In its own case the charge to recovery is being led by China, packaging, and its new electric charging offshoot.
Hunsdorfer said, “We have done our homework. We are moving into new areas in addition to our core business. We are developing into a technology company that still makes the world’s best printing press.”
He pointed to the success
of the new universal CX104, which sold 500 units before
it was even launched. He said the company was currently transferring its Prinect workflow into the cloud, “step by step”. He said, “Heidelberg will remain as the print technology leader. We will stay by the side of printers as their service partner.”
Innovation Week saw Heidelberg showcase its latest offset and digital technology for the commercial, packaging, and label market segments under the Always a Step Ahead banner.
The hybrid event had European printers in attendance, with printers from everywhere else receiving
live stream. There were nine separate trails being presented covering different topics, for instance Push to Stop. Short- run packaging was highlighted, along with commercial print productivity enhancements, and label printing opportunities on the CX75.