Cerm, which employs 26 staff and specialises in commercial and label printing MIS, was present on Heidelberg's stand at last year's Ipex as part of the German press manufacturer's MIS partner programme.

Heidelberg stressed that existing customers of its Prinect Prinance MIS would continue to be supported, although it will also seek to upgrade these customers to Cerm's technology.

Marcel Kiessling, head of Heidelberg Services, said: "We aim to present a fully integrated MIS solution with central data management in combination with our Prinect print shop workflow at Drupa 2012 and start the worldwide roll-out step by step.

"Cerm is an excellent addition to our existing solutions thanks to the strengths of the company's products and the customer segments it serves."

Tom Musschoot, former owner and now managing director of Cerm, added: "We'll continue to serve all our existing customers in all our markets. Additionally, as part of Heidelberg, we will be able to extend our business to a truly global level.

"Heidelberg's worldwide presence including the sales channels of Gallus for the label business will create a unique platform for our very specialised narrow web solution." "We are already serving our first US customers, and will now be able to reduce the time-to-market considerably."

Cerm's existing partnerships will remain in place, while the MIS partner programme will continue to be an essential part of Heidelberg's strategy.