The History of Heidelberg Presses
Printing press manufacturing for Heidelberg is like the company’s brand identity. For over 50 years Heidelberg has been the market leader in sheetfed offset printing presses and has continuously been the driving force behind press technology from its beginning as a manufacturer in the 1850s.
The firm was established in the year 1850 by Andreas Hamm in Heidelberg – Germany and began as a metal working industry. He assembled various sorts of precision instruments but decided to build letterpress machines later then cylinder letterpress machines particularly one type called platen presses. Early on, Heidelberg managed to sell its presses at home and figured that expanding on its technological know how it could control the development of printing machinery.
The Windmill Feeder which has been uniquely designed for the breakthrough.
Also in 1914 the company introduced the first windmill-style sheet feeder that almost fully automated the press sheet feeding process. This mechanism utilised suction for sheet pick-up and precise sheet feeding capability of up to 8000 sheets hourly. They also substantially enhanced the pressure velocity and effectiveness of presses. It positioned Heidelberg as the market leader and innovator as well as pointed the direction for the development of the offset printing solutions.
The Move to Offset Presses
In the post Second World War scenario, Heidelberg changed them from building only letterpress machines to the shift in to offset printing. Offset machines use flat printing plate, inking rollers and rubber blanket cylinder for transfer of images on to paper sheets instead of direct pressure as felt in letterpress. This results to giving a sharper, cleaner print making offset more suitable for colour and photographic printing.
Heidelberg came up with its small offset press, the O-type Offset printing machine in 1958. In this press series, Epson offered superior print quality and reliability to machines produced by its competitors. The O-type assisted offset printing in gaining a further importance as it proven that the process is able to reach letterpress quality regardless the kind of paper used. Heidelberg, however, went on to refine its designs, to boost running speeds and to incorporate latest inking systems in later series of offset presses.
Computer Integrated Manufacturing The Press Controls gives way for entering the digital age.
Traditional controls have been incorporated into offset presses many times as computing technology has evolved at Heidelberg. In 1979, the company registered the Computer Integrated Manufacturing after the Speedmaster SM 74 press incorporated the first microcomputer system that automates preset-up actions and control the progress of the process.
The next major advancement began in the early 1990s, with the Speedmaster SM 102 press employing image processing with fully digital control for most press adjustments. The SM 102 is the one that has laid down the speed and also the waste reduction parameters while also successfully integrating the new concept of UV printing acceptance.
Currently, press performance data is collected and analyzed through cloud connectivity in order to improve efficiency in recent years. Heidelberg also incorporated such capabilities within Nu-Tronic SX and S-LX control system in conjunction with touch screen operation and clear menus. If expanded computational capability is integrated and only data analysis is applied then Heidelberg presses to address new print demands from digital sources.
Innovations That Started First – Excellence in Industries
Although expanding the computer and control integration Heidelberg remains the company known for delivering engineering innovations that impact the overall trends. The Speedmaster XL 105 paper format is one long line of such firsts. The new model which was launched in 2004 was the XL 105 that incorporated the central drums concept for the ability to handle extra large 585 x 750mm sheets. This particular design arrangement and feeder/delivery systems for such oversize sheet volumes, in turn led to a “super-format” development embraced by leading manufacturers for specific uses.
Others are UV printing systems; low-odor waterless offset inking; direct on-press plate imaging; nanographic dry offset printing; and, incorporating more of automated quality control. It extracts the most sophisticated features along with high performing outputs that enable Heidelberg remain the industry’s benchmark for innovative offset printing solutions.
Digital Printing Systems – Complementing Technologies for Tomorrow
Still, in spite of excellent offset press innovations, Heidelberg agrees; digital printing roles exist moving forward especially with shorter run, personalized applications. In the year 2011, Heidelberg bought CSAT in order to acquire knowledge in digital inkjet color printing system. This made it necessary to launch Jetmaster Dimension series high-speed inkjet presses for handling of sheets up to 750 x 1060 mm sizes commonly used in packaging.
In 2015 continuous success in inkjet presses, in 2017, Heidelberg acquired Gallus Labelfire to get significant industrial digital printing for labels and packaging solutions. Combining conventional offset with digital inkjet platforms is typical of Heidelberg’s approach to steady flexibility across every client need as the printing sphere develops.
A Series of Barrier Breaking Accomplishments
In recounting the story of Heidelberg’s more than 170 years of an ascent to dominance in the global printing industry, it is the tradition of attaining remarkable firsts at progressively higher levels of a company’s development. Whether it is devising new technology breakthroughs such as its windmill sheet feeder as the first of a kind, supporting innovation in printable technology from offset and digital inkjet’s rise or cracking equally challenging formats, Heidelberg goes beyond just somehow following market dynamics. The firm has been continue to develop innovations improving the press and printing functions.
This makes it remain dominant in the industry not by complacence of past achievements. Since Andreas Hamm built his first cylinder press, Heidelberg learnt to regard technicalities as challenges to be conquered through scientific prowess. The combination of this vision, innovation, and execution appears set for Heidelberg presses to pen many more chapters of how these concerns alter expectations and drive the development of printing.