Heidelberg buoyed by China Print response

China Print runs every four years and took place from 15-19 May. 

Heidelberg said that with an annual increase of around 4% in paper-based packaging, China was an important growth market for the business and numerous packaging customers had invested at the show.

It sold multiple B1 and B2 Speedmaster presses encompassing just under 350 units in total, which exceeded expectations.

Dr David Schmedding, Heidelberg chief technology and sales officer, said the orders booked at the expo had given Heidelberg a strong start to its new financial year: “The huge interest in the innovations and displays at our booth provides impressive proof that Heidelberg is a leading market player in China.

“We won over a large number of customers with our integrated solutions for packaging and commercial printing from a single source, many of which are manufactured locally.”

Heidelberg makes the Speedmaster CX 104 model at its manufacturing facility in Shanghai.

The Jetfire 50 B3-plus digital inkjet press, driven by Heidelberg’s new Prinect Touch Free software, had its Asia trade show debut in Beijing.

W2P giant Shengda Printing Technology, which has sales of around €375m (£315.6m), signed up to become the first Jetfire 50 user in China.

Heidelberg said the show drew 120,00 visitors from across Asia and beyond, with its 2,000sqm booth – which also showcased this year’s 175th anniversary – “recording the highest visitor numbers”.

Some 1.3-m people also tuned in online to watch live presentations.

Its exhibit highlighted the opportunities presented by digitalisation to improve productivity and efficiency and included a showcase on hybrid production using offset and digital printing, and an applications gallery.

(Source: PrintWeek.com)