The world's first Jetfire digital printing systems from Heidelberg are going to customers in Switzerland and Germany. The first German user will be Meinders & Elstermann from April. The first Jetfire 50 will go into operation at Gremper in Switzerland a month earlier.
Gremper AG, which is based in Switzerland, will the world's first user one Jetfire 50 of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG. The new industrial inkjet system is scheduled to go into operation at Gremper at the end of March and will then be used in particular for the Production of often personalised print runs are available. The company is also commissioning a Speedmaster XL 106-8-P+L of the latest generation, thereby expanding its overall capacities in a hybrid production environment.
“Our discussions about a digital printing system with a competitor were already on the home straight. But then Heidelberg presented the Jetfire 50 with integration into the Prinect workflow at drupa 2024. That changed everything. This is exactly what we had been waiting for.“
Karl Gremper, Chairman of the Board of Directors
Further purchase arguments were the Use of water-based and therefore sustainable inks and the fact that Heidelberg also services the Jetfire systems. „The print quality of the Jetfire, which has been proven in tests, corresponds to that of offset printing, for which Heidelberg has been our partner for a long time. Ultimately, we were convinced by the overall offer for both technologies,” says Cilgia Gremper, CEO and Delegate of the Board of Directors.
The investment in a hybrid production environment with offset and digital printing systems, which includes two Versafire systems from Heidelberg in addition to the new Jetfire, the company is expanding its market position. This puts Gremper in a position to produce both the larger four-colour print runs with multiple finishes and the growing proportion of short runs with individual content efficiently and in the highest quality.
First German user
The first German user of a Jetfire 50 is Meinders & Elstermann GmbH & Co. KG in Osnabrück. The machine will go into operation in April. The company intends to use the new Jetfire High-quality short runs and individualised mailings a product group that is growing rapidly and is particularly well suited to standardised, automated production.
For Managing Director Jens Rauschen, too, the Workflow integration with Prinect and in particular the announced Prinect Touch Free is the decisive argument in favour of a Jetfire.
„Fully automated control of production processes in offset and digital printing is the key to profitable print production,“ he says. „With Prinect, Heidelberg supports the kind of hybrid production workflow we need to remain competitive in a challenging market environment.“
Jens Rauschen, Managing Director Meinders & Elstermann
Jens Rauschen therefore places great Expectations for the upcoming cloud-based automation workflow Prinect Touch Free, to utilise the potential of offset and digital systems as fully as possible. „Software such as Prinect Touch Free is able to plan a large number of jobs and bring them through production efficiently and cost-effectively while meeting deadlines.“ Meinders & Elstermann produces commercial and packaging printing at five locations in Germany.
Integrating print production into Prinect technology
As the second printing company in Switzerland, the Schmid-Fehr AG will also be commissioning a Jetfire 50 this spring to complement two large toner systems. Many short runs from sheetfed offset will be printed on the Heidelberg inkjet system in future. The decision in favour of the Jetfire 50 is a logical step on the way to complete integration of print production into Prinect technology.
„The full Prinect integration of the Jetfire 50 is the decisive advantage of the overall system. We are taking another big step towards the end-to-end digitalisation and automation of our processes.“
Matthias Schmid, owner and managing director of Schmid-Fehr
Utilising opportunities in growing industrial digital printing
„Market demand for our new digital printing offering remains very high. And as announced at drupa 2024, the first Jetfire 50 installations at our customers will take place this spring. Our Hybrid approach with the integration of offset and digital printing systems in one workflow is a competitive advantage for our customers,“ says Dr David Schmedding, Chief Technology and Sales Officer at Heidelberg.
According to market estimates, the global digital printing market accessible to Heidelberg, including service and consumables, is growing from around five billion euros today to 7.5 billion euros by 2029. The company has therefore expanded its range in both the inkjet and toner segments and aims to significantly increase sales of digital printing solutions as a result.
Source: Heidelberg
