The business also said short time working at its German sites will end as early as this month.
“Our Drupa team won over customers with a fabulous stand and futureproof innovations. The positive spirit among customers and staff alike was simply mind-blowing,” said Dr David Schmedding, head of sales and marketing at Heidelberg and board member for sales and service with effect from 1 July.
“Heidelberg is a true partner of the printing and packaging industry. The large number of orders placed across all technologies during the trade show emphasizes our customers’ trust in the company as a leading system provider.”
Daily presentations at the 11-day show at Messe Düsseldorf, which closes later today (7 June), focused on the company’s innovations in commercial and packaging printing.
The company is also aiming to use its collaboration with Canon that was announced at Drupa to leverage its growth potential in inkjet printing. Orders in the “mid-double-digit range” have already been placed for the new Jetfire 50 inkjet system from Heidelberg.
In the packaging segment, Heidelberg said it would expand the range of applications for its new Boardmaster inline flexographic web printing machine to include the area of flexible paper packaging, supporting the global demand for sustainable, cost-effective, recyclable, or compostable packaging.
Confirmed sales at the show have included a Jetfire 50 for Schellenberg Group in Switzerland, a Versafire LV for Solo Druck in Germany, 15 Speedmaster CX presses for Zhengzhou Shengda in China, and a Speedmaster XL 106 for Aumüller Druck in Germany.
Also; a total of 38 printing units for Speedmaster XL 75 and CX 75 presses for Thung Hua Sinn in Thailand, and a Boardmaster for Southern Champion Tray in the US.
Ryan Miles, managing director of Heidelberg UK, told Printweek at Drupa that the show had gone “better than expected” from a UK perspective, and that the UK team had spoken to “significantly more people than we thought”.
He commented: “The level of busyness and energy that’s going on in the stands is quite incredible. There’s been a good vibe and everybody’s happy. It’s been a nice uplift for us and what we’ve seen is a lot of genuine, interested customers.”
