From crucible to large format
Print The Wiesloch-Walldorf plant of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG celebrates its 50th anniversary and its entry into the new large format.
Print The Wiesloch-Walldorf plant of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG is celebrating its 50th anniversary and its entry into the new large format. Although the roots of today's Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) go back to the casting of bells, the company has always looked to the future and has been globally oriented from an early stage. As early as the 1920s, for example, the "Original Heidelberger Tiegel" letterpress printing presses were installed on buses and driven through Shanghai for demonstration purposes. 50 years ago, Heidelberg took what was probably the most significant step in the company's history, as was revealed at a press conference to mark the 50th anniversary of the Wiesloch-Walldorf plant. At that time, under the leadership of the then Director Hubert H. A. Sternberg, the company relocated production from the town of the same name to Wiesloch, 15 kilometers to the south. Over the 50 years, the largest and most modern printing press factory in the world was built on the 860,000 square meter site. Today, around 65 printing units, as well as CtP imagesetters, pass through the factory gates every day and are shipped all over the world.
Hall 11 for the large formatAt the previous site, now called Wiesloch-Walldorf, Heidelberg can hardly grow any further in terms of space. Hall 11, which is currently under construction, covers the last major gap in the factory premises. The first Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 142 and XL 162 presses will be produced in the gigantic 35,000 square meter assembly hall from September. By the time the Drupa trade show opens its doors in Düsseldorf in just over a year's time, Heidelberg aims to be ready for series production of these large-format sheetfed offset presses in Wiesloch-Walldorf. Site manager Stephan Plenz reported that the plant, which he described as the "most efficient printing press factory in the world", is working at full capacity. Around 240 additional employees would have to be recruited for the production of the large-format presses.
Heidelberg is investing 45 million euros in the new hall. Jürgen Rautert, Chief Technology Officer at Heidelberg, explained to business and trade press representatives that there is currently no alternative to "made in Germany" for the production of the XL 142 and XL 162; today's modern press technology is too complex. Heidelberg benefits from the well-trained specialists and infrastructure in Germany. Nevertheless, the German site is a major challenge: "We have to produce and process more iron and castings every year at ever lower costs in order to improve our competitiveness." To ensure that the latter remains the case and to enable further growth in countries such as China, Heidelberg has recently started assembling folding machines and small-format printing presses for the Chinese market in Qingpu.
The 49-year-old manager explains why Heidelberg is only now entering the large-format market after its competitors MAN Roland and KBA, stating that Heidelberg generally only serves markets once they have established themselves and are showing growth. After all, Heidelberg has grown up with this strategy.
History - and a few figuresIn 1965, mainly single-color presses were produced in Wiesloch. The maximum printing speed of the machines was 3500 sheets per hour. If you lay out these sheets, the result is an area of 20,000 m2 that could have been printed in one day. In comparison, today's Speedmaster XL 105 presses produced in the now renamed Wiesloch-Walldorf plant can print 120,000 m2 - in eight colors.
More than 400,000 printing units have left the printing press factory in five decades.
Heidelberg is currently completing the new 35,000 m2 Hall 11. Production of the new Speedmaster XL 142 and XL 162 large-format presses will begin here in the fall.
The investment volume in the new hall amounts to 45 million euros.
Jürgen Franck
Hall 11 for the large formatAt the previous site, now called Wiesloch-Walldorf, Heidelberg can hardly grow any further in terms of space. Hall 11, which is currently under construction, covers the last major gap in the factory premises. The first Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 142 and XL 162 presses will be produced in the gigantic 35,000 square meter assembly hall from September. By the time the Drupa trade show opens its doors in Düsseldorf in just over a year's time, Heidelberg aims to be ready for series production of these large-format sheetfed offset presses in Wiesloch-Walldorf. Site manager Stephan Plenz reported that the plant, which he described as the "most efficient printing press factory in the world", is working at full capacity. Around 240 additional employees would have to be recruited for the production of the large-format presses.
Heidelberg is investing 45 million euros in the new hall. Jürgen Rautert, Chief Technology Officer at Heidelberg, explained to business and trade press representatives that there is currently no alternative to "made in Germany" for the production of the XL 142 and XL 162; today's modern press technology is too complex. Heidelberg benefits from the well-trained specialists and infrastructure in Germany. Nevertheless, the German site is a major challenge: "We have to produce and process more iron and castings every year at ever lower costs in order to improve our competitiveness." To ensure that the latter remains the case and to enable further growth in countries such as China, Heidelberg has recently started assembling folding machines and small-format printing presses for the Chinese market in Qingpu.
The 49-year-old manager explains why Heidelberg is only now entering the large-format market after its competitors MAN Roland and KBA, stating that Heidelberg generally only serves markets once they have established themselves and are showing growth. After all, Heidelberg has grown up with this strategy.
History - and a few figuresIn 1965, mainly single-color presses were produced in Wiesloch. The maximum printing speed of the machines was 3500 sheets per hour. If you lay out these sheets, the result is an area of 20,000 m2 that could have been printed in one day. In comparison, today's Speedmaster XL 105 presses produced in the now renamed Wiesloch-Walldorf plant can print 120,000 m2 - in eight colors.
More than 400,000 printing units have left the printing press factory in five decades.
Heidelberg is currently completing the new 35,000 m2 Hall 11. Production of the new Speedmaster XL 142 and XL 162 large-format presses will begin here in the fall.
The investment volume in the new hall amounts to 45 million euros.
Jürgen Franck
