Heidelberg is also seeing growing interest in its industrial digital printing solutions centered around the Jetfire 50 in its Eastern Europe region. The main reason for this is the growing trend toward increasingly smaller print runs, which has also taken hold in this region. According to Heidelberg’s analyses, the share of digitally printed volume in the total commercial printing volume in Eastern Europe will rise to around 44% by 2030, with Poland, Austria, and the Czech Republic ranking among the strongest markets due to their well-established printing industries.
“We’re seeing a very positive response to the Jetfire 50 in Eastern Europe. With this industrial inkjet system, Heidelberg has achieved a level of productivity in digital printing that enables commercial printers to position themselves for the future in combination with offset printing,” says Roland Spatt, head of the Eastern Europe Region at Heidelberg.
One example is the full-service provider Klampfer Druck from St. Ruprecht an der Raab, Austria, which employs around 100 people at five locations and produces both high-quality commercial print and folding cartons. The company recently expanded its digital printing operations by installing a Jetfire 50. This enables Klampfer Druck to respond much more quickly and efficiently to the market’s growing demand for greater flexibility and shorter turnaround times. In this context, managing director Daniela Klampfer highlights the ongoing trend toward short runs and the personalization of printed products. For Klampfer Druck, which produces both high-quality commercial printing and creative packaging, the Jetfire 50 industrial inkjet system is an optimal solution for meeting these needs cost-effectively and with high quality.
The Jetfire 50 was installed at Klampfer Druck at the end of August. With this move, the company is increasingly focusing on hybrid production, in which offset and digital printing each play to their respective strengths. With a printing speed of up to 4,560 SAR3 sheets per hour (duplex), this industrial digital printing system operates at print run levels that are in a completely different league compared to toner-based digital printing, which has been in use at Klampfer Druck for many years.
The Jetfire 50’s integration capabilities and quality standards are the key to efficient hybrid production
The Jetfire 50 is fully integrated into Heidelberg’s digital ecosystem, which encompasses equipment – including post-press processing – software integration, consumables, service, application consulting, and training. The Jetfire 50 is integrated into a print shop’s existing production workflow via Prinect. At Klampfer Druck, the Jetfire 50 was seamlessly integrated into the existing workflow provided by a third-party vendor. Klampfer is keeping the switch to the AI-driven Prinect Touch Free workflow open as an option for the next step, in order to further automate the entire production process. This links offset and digital printing in a seamless, AI-driven workflow, ensuring maximum efficiency with minimal manual intervention.
For offset printing, Klampfer Druck currently operates a Speedmaster XL 106 and a Speedmaster CX 104 in three-shift operation, which are reliably supported by a Subscription Smart contract covering service and consumables. “Given our order structure, we often can no longer economically produce runs of between 1,000 and 2,000 copies on a toner-based digital press or even using the offset process,” says Managing Director Robert Klampfer. In this regard, the Jetfire 50 is the right solution for producing a wide range of short runs in digital printing quickly and with high quality, thereby further optimizing the use of the entire technical infrastructure, including offset printing. “We now produce every job on the optimal press,” says Klampfer.
In terms of quality, there are no discernible differences between production on the Jetfire 50 and offset printing. Consistent color management is a prerequisite for hybrid production, in which, for example, the pre-run or initial run is produced using digital printing, and offset printing is then used as demand increases. Another example highlighted by Klampfer Druck is personalized gift certificates or mailings, which used to be produced in two separate steps using offset and digital printing. The Jetfire 50 now handles such jobs efficiently in a single pass. The system is also already demonstrating its advantages in calendar production.
For Klampfer Druck, however, the decision to invest in the Jetfire 50 was by no means purely a technological one. The decisive factor was the entire digital ecosystem that Heidelberg offers around the machine, with the Jetfire’s integration capabilities and Heidelberg’s service commitment playing a particularly crucial role. In particular, the ability to digitally link different production methods and processes opens up the prospect for Klampfer not only to automate production but also to continuously improve it.
Prior to the investment, the range of jobs was analyzed together with Heidelberg’s support team. This analysis showed that the Jetfire 50 can be utilized economically at Klampfer Druck right from the start.
“The installation of the Jetfire 50 at our long-standing customer Klampfer Druck is yet another example of how our hybrid printing solutions meet our customers’ needs. Many recognize that this enables them to operate much more flexibly and efficiently on the market, and thus more profitably and competitively,” explains Dr. David Schmedding, CSO at Heidelberg. “Our next step in innovation is the Jetfire 75, with which we are expanding our digital portfolio for the B2 format. This will enable us to achieve a significantly higher level of productivity and cover an even broader range of offerings.”
Various in-line and near-line finishing systems are available as options for the Jetfire 50. These range from multi-folders to adhesive binders and brochure finishers. This allows stapled and adhesive-bound products, such as brochures, catalogs, books, and much more, to be produced in a single pass. As a system integrator, Heidelberg has integrated the finishing solutions from C.P. Bourg and Tecnau into its digital ecosystem alongside its own cutting and folding solution, the Stahlfolder Fireline, thereby making them available for the Jetfire 50 as well. Klampfer Druck relies on existing nearline systems in the spirit of hybrid production. Over the past few years, Klampfer Druck has invested heavily in both post-press processing and finishing to keep the majority of value creation in-house and remain at the cutting edge of technology. Here, too, technology from Heidelberg is used, including Stahlfolder folding technology, a StackStar-P robot, and MK Masterwork, that is, two Easymatrix systems for die-cutting and hot foil stamping, as well as a Diana Go folding carton gluing machine. “Thanks to these measures and ongoing investments, we have been able to hold our own very well and continue to grow despite the challenging market,” emphasizes Daniela Klampfer.
Simple operating concept increases uptime
The Jetfire 50 is also a response to the shortage of skilled workers, as operators do not necessarily need to have formal training as printers. At Klampfer Druck, the Jetfire 50 is operated by prepress staff who are digitally savvy and were thus able to transition very quickly and successfully into production after just a short training period. The intuitive user interface of Prinect Production also helps in this regard. Thanks to the machine’s design, operators can perform certain maintenance tasks themselves, which further increases availability, currently at around 90%.
Based on its positive experiences with offset printing, the company has also opted for Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) in conjunction with the Jetfire 50. This refers to a logistics service in which Heidelberg handles inventory management and reordering of consumables – including inks, in the case of the Jetfire 50.
