Kunst- und Werbedruck Invests €9 Million in Heidelberg Machines

Kunst- und Werbedruck (K + W) in late 2013 said goodbye to web offset printing and a hodgepodge of different presses. Since then, it has embraced sheetfed offset printing in 3B format and a high level of vertical integration. As a partner it chose Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg), which had already installed the first Speedmaster XL 105 in 2012 and then in 2014 installed a second Speedmaster XL 106, this time as a perfecting press, as well as several finishing presses.
 
“We offer ‘everything from a single source’ and ‘does not work – does not exist’ solutions,” Stefan Belte said. Together with Frank Pieper, he has been working as a managing director at K + W since 2010.
 
The recipe for success? “We take on any challenge, whether technical, economical, organizational or logistical, and always deliver something special,” Belte said.
 
Belte and Pieper went on the offensive once more to be able to implement all this even better and more economically, and this year invested in a full package from Heidelberg worth more than €9 million. The package consists of a new Suprasetter 106 CtP platesetter with fully automatic 106 G pallet loader, two Speedmaster XL 106 presses, and the Prinect Business Manager for networking the existing Prinect workflow components with an MIS system.

K + W uses printing plates and coatings from the Saphira range and also trusts service offerings like Service 36plus with remote service and e-call for high press availability. “Having a partner that covers as many of our requirements as possible is important to us. With Heidelberg, we negotiate on an equal footing and deal with plain-spoken and fair partners,” Belte said.
The first of the two new printing presses, a ten-color Speedmaster XL 106 with perfecting and a speed of up to 18,000 sheets per hour, was installed in February 2017. It is the first press in the world to be partially equipped with the innovative Hycolor Multidrive inking unit drive.

K + W had already put itself forward for the field test as a commercial printer because the order spectrum matched exactly. Hycolor Multidrive constitutes a major customer benefit here, since the inking unit can now be operated independently of other activities and makeready processes on the press. With Hycolor Multidrive, the inking units can be washed while the printing plates are changed in parallel with AutoPlate XL 2 via the main drive – and rubber blankets and impression cylinders are washed at the same time as the makeready process. This is particularly interesting when using several spot colors or a print varnish. Parallel washing and makeready operations are possible while the next job is being prepared, which leads to extremely short makeready times and guarantees short delivery times for customers.