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Howard's World

The Evolution of Heidelberg

Nick Howard, March 2016

For the most part, the press rooms of the world are dominated by four major players – Heidelberg, KBA, manroland and Komori. It was not always so. In earlier years, Harris and Miehle (mostly with their Roland presses) controlled the major share. People buying these brands knew they were buying excellent equipment. As with the global printing industry in general, however, there is strong competition from a host of manufacturers with quite a bit to offer. Let’s look at one of the key players.

Prior to 1975, Heidelberg held a comfortable position supplying their extremely popular S and K and M offset and, of course, the OHC cylinder and T and GT letterpress. The Rotaspeed, although superbly engineered, never did reach the expectations the designers had hoped. As Heidelberg’s entry press in the multi-colour B1 offset press market of the mid-1960s, the Rotaspeedwas the source of some interesting developments. Among these were the Ranger in-feed drum, which offered an alternative to Miller and Harris’ feed rolls and Roland’s swing arm. The Rotaspeed also featured a five-form roller inker and double diameter transfer cylinders. Heidelberg first introduced the Rotaspeed as a chain transfer machine. Needless to say, this was a concept earlier adapted by manroland with great success. The earliest version simply had delivery grippers used in the position. But registration was a constant headache. Heidelberg then switched to a lighter bar made of Suluminum (a composite metal Germany had invented during WW II). Suluminum lowered the weight of the bar and the Heidelberg engineers felt a lighter transfer gripper would achieve better registration due to less flex. Failure was again the result. By 1968 the drum transfer was made standard equipment. No one could question the effort that went into building a Rotaspeed, but for many reasons, the end was near. Out of the ashes of the Rotaspeed came the Speedmaster.

No single press in the history of offset has had the impact of the Speedmaster. From its initial production in 1974, (SM72) it has attained a reputation against which all others are compared. An extremely user-friendly press, the Speedmaster incorporated a radically new pincer perfecting device, built-in blanket washers, speed compensated dampening and the seven o’clock cylinder arrangement. Seven o’clock gave better access to the impression cylinder and also ensured the sheet was printed before transfer. Many changes have taken place with this press over the years, most notably a redesigned inker (Drupa 86), CPtronic (Drupa 90) and a much superior blanket cleaning unit (Drupa 90). In addition, the enhanced CPC console, (Drupa 82) and the CPC 4 made this press a formidable opponent for the competition. It is not uncommon to find Speedmasters’ in the field with 400 million + impressions on the clock, and without a major overhaul.

The CD machine (Carton Diameter) introduced in 1986 allowed Heidelberg to enter the carton industry (long a staple for Roland and Planeta) with a vengeance. The double-diameter impression cylinder was not new – both Planeta and Komori had it earlier. The triple-sized transfer is unique, as it almost completely eliminates anti-marking devices and allows the stock to remain flat. The Swedish Solna also used a triple transfer in their multi-unit 24 and 25 model presses. This differs from that of the conventional Speedmaster “Classic,” which has a single revolution transfer (after and before impression) and a single revolution impression cylinder. Both designs have proven popular, and the Classic still offers perfecting as an option.

Easier access to the operator’s side of the press was achieved on the Drupa 90 machines with a hinged guard. This “door” saved a great deal of time in servicing the machine. Extra cylinder grippers meant a much stronger hold on the sheet when printing full coverage, which is very important when running stock of poorer quality. The in-feed has drastically changed with a bottom swing arm replacing the proven Ranger drum. This is said to have been necessary due to the increased running speeds. The Drupa 90 Speedmaster would have very little major changes in base construction until 2004. This shows how time proven the model was.

As Komori and Mitsubishi were the first to bring out presses with plate loading and sheet formatting, Heidelberg had to go back to the drawing board and design their own plate loading systems, as well as automatic make-ready systems in the feeder and delivery. Japanese printers were the early exponents of automatic or semi-automatic plate changing. Not only has Heidelberg brought this engineering to the market, they have also gone further in their effort to build the completely automated press. The Speedmaster, GTO, M-Offset all shared similarities in design – especially in operation and perfecting. This played strongly in Heidelberg’s favor for it was easy to train and move operators up the chain from small to large machinery. (An underlining bonus that also spilled over to press technicians as well.)

Nothing stays static for long. Developments in technology and features continued during the late 1990’s. The Internet was born. Slowly it took hold and became the resource vehicle for not on Universities and Colleges but the world’s commerce. Although the late 1990’s saw Heidelberg branch out and take over almost all the independent sales agencies, it appears not only most of us in Print, but Heidelberg themselves, didn’t see what effects the computer then smart phone would have in a short space of time.

By the year 2000 Heidelberg had already built a new generation of machines. Drupa 2000 was the launch of the CD74. What a change it was. New everything! The press was now a comfortable (and smart) double – double design, (double size impression and transfer). It had a completely redesigned delivery and feeder as well as the nexgen CP2000 touchscreen console. Also looked nothing like anything Heidelberg built before. In two formats 53 x 74 and 59 x 74, this also addressed a US desire for a 12-up half size press.

But what most of us did not see is how Heidelberg envisioned the future. For the CD74 was destined to be the next platform for B1 too. Drupa 04 showed us when the XL105 press arrived. Print was already pulling out of a downturn of the 2000 and it was still a difficult economy but after a few years of slow growth the XL took off and became the world’s most in demand press. Simply stated the XL was so much better than a CD 102 it created another problem for Heidelberg. Both the SM 102 and CD 102 were strong sellers. The SM was now used almost exclusively as a perfector with hundreds built as the industry standard for long perfecting (8 units or more). The CD 102 was a hit everywhere as the commercial market also preferred the CD to the SM. How could Heidelberg stop making either of these models? The answer was they wouldn’t and so it is today that the SM (now SX) and the CD (also now available as a hyped up CX) are still being produced. A CD102 is by far the second most popular press in the second hand market.

Our print world still continued to change. Only at a much faster clip. In 2008 when the banking industry hit the wall, markets tumbled, machinery sales plummeted to near catastrophic proportions. The only news was bad news. Heidelberg being the bellwether of our industry was forced to make some hard decisions in head counts and product offerings. “Why was this happening now?” - They must have asked themselves. Drupa 2008 was the major launch of the VLF (Very large Format) XL presses. VLF was something Heidelberg swore they would never make. But it was at Drupa 72 that Heidelberg did build a super-size Rotaspeed (size 6) only to scrap the machine after the fair. In 2008, after all these years Heidelberg had finally completed the circle on sheetfed and possibly hastened the demise of the former MAN-Roland in the process. The XL 162 is a monster. Larger in overall footprint to the KBA Rapida and it was a Heidelberg. Quickly the VLF drew fans just like they have done with the Speedmaster and XL 105.

A new generation of presses, new Prinect console with its often copied Wallscreen continues Heidelberg’s hold on top spot. I think the most amazing thing about Heidelberg is its ability to evolve and quickly change. Quite a remarkable feat for a company that has its roots back to 1850 with a dispute between Andreas Hamm and his partner – Andreas Albert (the A in KBA).

If Heidelberg has any problem at all, it’s that all other presses are compared to it. Being so well known, and enjoying probably the best reputation there is in the industry, Heidelberg is definitely ranked as number one. But being number one has a price. The other three majors have strong arguments for their equipment too. But only one company comes from the city of Heidelberg! There used to be a big sign in the courtyard of the Weisloch/Waldorf super-plant. It read: “Heidelberger Geist!” - Heidelberg Spirit! - That says it all.

 

Read all Howard’s articles »

 

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