Page 46 - Print 21 Magazine Sep-Oct 2021

Printing & Packaging
The world’s biggest offset press manufacturer, Heidelberg, launched a new B1 press, showed a new version of its flagship press designed for in-mould and wet-glue labels, and launched a new rotary die cutting unit, at a major global online event.
Heidelberg launches raft
of new kit, Aussies order new presses
Signalling its intent, the Heidelberg event It’s Showtime was presented around the world, with Australia and New Zealand
first to view, and was run in conjunction with the in-person trade show China Print, where Heidelberg showed all its latest products.
The company used the event – which ran with a young, diverse group of presenters and managers, reflecting the company’s new modern outlook – to launch its new B1 press, the Speedmaster CX104, which is targeted at commercial printers running two shifts, high volume packaging printers, and special applications printers.
The new press is based on the CX platform, for which Heidelberg says it has manufactured 50,000 units, but comes with a number of significant enhancements, including intelligent assistance, a new coating unit and innovations in inking and dampening, all of which says Heidelberg, will take productivity to new levels.
Above
At the event Heidelberg made
of much of what it described as an “outstanding” price-performance ratio of the new Speedmaster CX104. It comes with a "slight" price increase over the CX102 series which it replaces, and as a "rule of thumb" is about 15 per cent less than the XL106 series on a like-for-like configuration.
It is available as from now, with Heidelberg already having taken orders for 500 units, and saying, "if you want one under the Christmas tree you'll need to get your skates on".
Two Australian print businesses, one in Brisbane and one in Melbourne, have become the first local printers to order the press - one a five-colour with coater, the other a six-colour with coater.
Heidelberg has also launched a sister press, the CX92, which is the 920mm size machine with many of the same features, developed due to demand from China, but the press will be widely available.
“Heidelberg is investing in the industry’s future. With the new,
Caption xxxxx
intelligent Speedmaster CX 104, we’re making our customers and Heidelberg itself far more competitive,” said
CEO Rainer Hundsdörfer. “We have developed the press for a broad cross-section of customers and a
wide range of applications to target the vast market potential. With our new universal press in the 70 x 100 format, Heidelberg is making state- of-the-art sheetfed offset technology available to a large number of print shops worldwide.”
The CX104 has a new control system based on smartphone concept, and runs on IntelliStart
3. Heidelberg says all aspects of operation have been improved
to make the press easier for the operator. Intelligent assistance includes wash assistance, powder assistance and colour assistance pro, which essentially automate the tasks.
Heidelberg described the coating unit as “a quantum leap” saying
a time saving of up to 75 per cent based on one-person operation has already been confirmed under real- life conditions by pilot customers. It says the new coating blanket cylinder will make changing coating forms easier and up to 25 per cent faster.
A combination clamping system
for coating blankets and coating plates maximises the number of possible applications. The pairing
of a new, compact bearing unit and
a new chambered blade concept ensures homogeneous application of coatings, even at the highest speeds.
The CX104 has free scalability, which extends all the way through to Push-to-Stop functionality. Specifications go up to 15 printing and coating units. Heidelberg says it already has two orders from packaging printers for the 15 unit version, which is 30 metres long.
Heidelberg also launched its new 106 XL 8+L YYY eight-colour plus coater plus three drying units press, designed specifically for the thin films for in-mould and wet glue label printing.
1. “Superior quality,” Peter (right) and Mark Hogan, Hogan Print, with the
new Foliant Mercury 530SF 4x4 laminator from Currie Group
2. Hogan offices in Artarmon, Sydney.
3. Hogan Print’s new Horizon AFV- 566/TV 564 folder from Currie Group.
Multiple applications: Speedmaster CX104
Opposite page
New: ink mist extraction
46 Print21 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021