Heidelberg India strengthens its functions

-in the areas of consumables, digital printing and consultancy

Consumables from Heidelberg (Saphira) have found acceptance among printers to a greater extent. And then, their latest addition of Ricoh digital printing machines pave the way for digital options for offset printers. More and more printers have started making use of Heidelberg standards for their printing. To do this in an organised manner, Heidelberg offers its expertise in the form of consultancy. Rene Schieber, business manager, consumables, digital and consulting, was doing all these on behalf of Heidelberg in general manner from its Singapore arm. To make use of his experience, Heidelberg thought it fit to shift him to India to cater to the needs of printers in their ever expanding areas. Rene shares his thoughts with D Ramalingam from P&P on how he plans to implement it all. Fresh from a successful open house, Rene, young and enthusiastic, unfolded his thoughts in a cogent manner.

Digital printing

“We chose Ricoh for the advantages of its dedicated software and to complement with our offset machines in the formats 52 and 74 cm. Our colour management system vibes well with their software. The greatest advantage is integration with our Prinect. Offset printers are looking for inhouse digital solutions. The 60+ printers who attended our open house were informed about the various products ranging from pamphlet to packaging. In fact they saw these being demonstrated live,” said Rene.

“The quantity is an issue as offset printed jobs require some overprinting by digital or vice versa which can be done on the fly. Two orders have been booked and the machines will be installed shortly. It is not only a question of offset supplementing digital which is usual but we had a digital printer from Hyderabad searching for an offset press supplement. There I realised that the cut-off of the printing quantity differs from continent to continent – 2500 in the USA, 300 in Europe and it could be even 100 in India as offset is still cheapest here. We have specialists in both fields at Heidelberg India. We have the options of support from Heidelberg Thailand, Heidelberg Malaysia and Asia Pacific in Singapore. We did a survey and found out that Ricoh Monochromes could sell more in India than in other countries percentage wise however colour equipment still being the dominant request. Ricoh C 751 & C 901 are already making their mark. With the Heidelberg brand philosophy, it will be christened Linoprint at drupa,” he conveyed.

Consumables

Saphira engulfs the whole gamut of ink, fountain solution and plates. “Our Suprasetter is already very much in use. It, combined with our sheetfed machines, finds acceptance with the Heidelberg standard (for each machine) based on offset standard in prevalence. Saphira, Heidelberg sheetfed, dedicated colour management system and Prinect in combination when set properly, will ensure quality standard and consistent printing with least wastage. As the Saphira consumables are all tried, tested and proven together with application service we have a good and tested network of service engineers to help the printers for correct and efficient usage of our consumables,” said Rene.

Consultancy

“We found out in Singapore that printers were wanting advice on ISO & MIS. They asked for it and I had an opportunity to help implement them. MIS really helps in scheduling, PPC, costing & estimating and arriving at an ideal product mix for the company. In India, there exists a lacuna. Large printers do have their own systems. Small and medium ones require some help. ISO does not depend on the size of a firm. Even a smallest printer can go for ISO. It is a management control system which can ensure product quality,” concluded Rene.