Print shops are facing the challenge of having to process a growing number of short runs both efficiently and profitably in their production departments. That means keeping manual interventions to an absolute minimum. Integrating industrial inkjet printing into a digital ecosystem is, therefore, extremely important for the commercial market and the growth strategy of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg).
The market launch of the Jetfire 50 B3 sheetfed inkjet system unveiled at drupa 2024, which benefits from a link to Prinect technology, is going according to plan. Customers in Switzerland are soon to be the first to have their systems installed.
At the Hunkeler Innovation Days from 24 – 27 February in the Swiss city of Lucerne, Heidelberg will showcase its digital ecosystem for end-to-end production based on the new Jetfire 50. The company can be found in Hall 1 at Stand P 2, which it is sharing with Müller Martini AG. This is the first exhibition at which the system is being presented in the Heidelberg design. In a world premiere, Heidelberg will also unveil the Fireline nearline postpress solution with the Stahlfolder TH 56/66 models for automated end-to-end production in digital printing.
World premiere of Stahlfolder TH 56/66 Fireline for nearline postpress operations
The Stahlfolder TH 56/66 Fireline for nearline postpress operations in digital printing enables highly automated processing of digitally printed sheets in a single operation, all the way through to the finished cut and folded print product. Cutting, creasing, and folding all take place in just one pass.
“In the industrial printing context, efficient and highly automated postpress operations are vital if production departments are to process a large number of highly diverse orders efficiently and ensure the profitability of digital print production. That makes our new Fireline postpress solution a key addition to the Heidelberg digital ecosystem, taking us a big step closer to end-to-end print production,” emphasizes David Schmedding, chief technology & sales officer at Heidelberg.
While the Stahlfolder TH 56 Fireline has been developed as a postpress solution for the Jetfire 50, the Stahlfolder TH 66 Fireline in combination with the Jetfire 75 is intended for the B2 format. Heidelberg is planning to unveil the Jetfire 75 in the course of 2025.
Wide range of different end products covered
The Stahlfolder TH 56/66 Fireline is fully integrated into the Prinect workflow. As a result, the system can be preset automatically based on the job parameters from Prinect and with virtually no operator intervention. The standard programs stored in the system cover a wide range of different end products.
The possibilities with the Jetfire 50 include A3 and A4 posters trimmed on all four sides for full-bleed motifs, four-page pamphlets (A4 portrait plus A5 portrait and landscape), and eight-page A6 products with concertina, parallel, or letter fold. To minimize the number of system changeovers, Prinect groups similar orders into batches, and these jobs are then completed one after the other on the Jetfire 50 and the Stahlfolder TH 56/66 Fireline.
Thanks to the high degree of automation, even less qualified staff can achieve professional results and a high level of productivity. In addition to the standard programs stored in the system, customized programs can also be configured manually and saved.
Note: European correspondent Nessan Cleary (nc@nessancleary.co.uk) will be covering Hunkeler Innovationdays forIndian Printer and Publisher and Packaging South Asia.
