In the printing industry, systems integration and process automation are becoming decisive competitive factors to an ever-greater extent. Three years after its launch, the cloud-based Customer Portal of Heidelberg is increasingly becoming the digital control center for end-to-end production in print shops. A total of more than 7,000 individuals at over 3,000 printing companies worldwide are actively using the platform to make processes appreciably more efficient by digitalizing and automating them.
The portal now offers more than 15 specialized apps, including high-performance functions such as the Maintenance Manager, the Inventory Management app, and Print Shop Analytics. These apps are boosting the efficiency and transparency of maintenance, materials management, and production operations thanks to digital assistance, automated processes, and real-time data. They are helping to prevent downtime, reduce storage costs, and systematically improve both overall equipment effectiveness and sustainability.
What’s more, it will soon be possible to purchase consumables and spare parts in just two clicks – a real milestone in terms of user-friendliness and efficiency. This makes Heidelberg an industry pioneer when it comes to combining all digital services – such as access to production and workflow apps, real-time analyses, maintenance, management tools, and shopping for consumables – in a single cloud-based portal. The ultimate goal is to equip print shops with high-performance tools that can be put to immediate use to implement automation directly in an everyday production environment.
“The Heidelberg Customer Portal is a milestone in the digitalization of customer relationships and, at the same time, a strategic tool for optimizing processes and mastering complex workflows in print shops. Our Prinect Workflow is the backbone for all that,” says David Schmedding, chief technology & sales officer at Heidelberg. “In short, the Customer Portal quite simply makes our customers’ work easier,” he adds.
This is confirmed by customers such as Mark Mills, president of Spectrum Packaging Corporation in the US city of Orlando. “The new Speedmaster XL 106-7+L with Prinect tripled press speed, reduced makeready times, and elevated color consistency for every job. With support from the Heidelberg Performance Team and analytics from the Customer Portal, we are continuing to push efficiency even further, fine-tuning results week after week,” he reveals.
Data Capture app for end-to-end capture and analysis of production data
Another tool that has just been added is the Data Capture app for capturing production data on an end-to-end basis and analyzing it in real time. This application transfers planning and job data directly to print shop workstations, supports job and status tracking, and supplies operating data for reporting and actual costings. In this way, the new app function helps improve transparency and optimize control in print shop production departments.
Marco Rassfeld, head of Prepress & CtP at the pilot user Meinders & Elstermann GmbH & Co. KG, who is also responsible for all issues relating to workflow integration at the company, confirms the practical benefits. “The Data Capture app is self-explanatory and makes life a whole lot easier than the previous process. It saves time, has access to a centralized data source, and ensures full use can be made of all available production slots. The rollout was virtually seamless, and Heidelberg provided fast and professional support at all times,” he says.
More to come
Largely implemented on the basis of Prinect to date, the Customer Portal’s current automation functions are merely an intermediate step. Heidelberg will be systematically enhancing the portal, integrating further digital solutions that will increase the level of automation to achieve fully autonomous print production. In this way, the company is looking to create a scalable infrastructure that print shops worldwide can use to control their production operations intelligently, autonomously, flexibly, and reliably.
