workflow was the most comprehensive
workflow in the market and a key for the
future of their business). Rautert referred
to workflow as the operating system of
print. You would not run a computer
without an OS, so you should not run a
printing company without workflow.
Workflow will continue to evolve as a
major emphasis in the sales of Heidelberg
and is an area where it has major advantages over all of its offset rivals that have
very limited offerings. It will also be a
major help to the company when it returns to the digital printing area.
Digital and inkjet futures
The question of Heidelberg’s position relating to digital printing equipment was
brought up in the Print Week article, when
the interviewer asked if Heidelberg re-gretted pulling out of this sector. Rautert
suggested that Heidelberg cannot ignore
digital printing, as it is becoming more
important than in the past, which is a
typical answer one would expect.
He did, however, continue speaking on
this topic of digital printing and ultimately
provided a major indication of a possible
future move, something no senior Heidelberg senior executive has been prepared to
state before. Rautert said, “Heidelberg has
by far the biggest worldwide sales network
in the printing industry and we have generated quite a number of experiences with
OEM products selling. Heidelberg was not
very open to these propositions 10 years
ago, we were just selling Heidelberg, but
we have now gained some experience and
we will certainly sell more products
through our channels in the future. These
channels are underutilised and why not
digital devices? These could be either
OEM or even original branded…but I’m
pretty sure we will enter this area.”
Heidelberg in fact has extensive experience in the arena of inkjet printing. Back
in 2000, the company showed the fastest
page-width, drop-on-demand monochrome inkjet engine at the drupa
tradeshow. The company even had a six
percent share in inkjet printhead manufacturer Spectra (now owned by Fujifilm,
under the Dimatix brand). Rautert was
asked about the Linopress inkjet business
that the company launched in 2008. He
stated that the first units have been sold
into the packaging market for special applications. This market for Heidelberg is
still very new and the company is not sure
at this time if it is a major or niche market.
Heidelberg, however, sees the opportunity to use its knowledge of integrating
printheads from different vendors and its
know-how in terms of firing these to
build this business. Rautert indicated perhaps one day Heidelberg may decide it is
time for a 4-colour inkjet press!
My comment on this is perhaps the company is now seeing how it possibly threw
away a major opportunity following its
first development in 2000 to lead the inkjet
printing market. To join this market now
would involve a very difficult and competitive plan, to gain major marketshare
when major technology suppliers like HP,
Kodak, Océ, Screen, Fujifilm and soon
Xerox are already well established.
Financial health
Much of the Print Week article covered the
financial position of Heidelberg. The
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