"Lean is the buzzword not only in our industry, but every industry," said Stephan Plenz, member of the management board for equipment. "We have faced essentially the same challenges as printers do today, which gives us an acute insight into their needs."

So far, the German manufacturer has only revealed one entirely new product for the show, a flagship perfect binder, the Eurobind Pro, but Plenz hinted that there would be another big announcement at Ipex.

Following Heidelberg chairman Bernhard Schreier's confirmation that the company was talking to possible digital partners, he said: "I can destroy one of your ideas – it won't be digital".

According to Plenz, the 6,000cph Eurobind Pro, which is a development of the Eurobind 4000, offers makeready speeds 50% faster than its rivals.

As well as the new perfect binder, which will be on display at Heidelberg's Tamworth demo centre during Ipex, there have been a number of other enhancements to its post-press range.

An automatic servo-driven cross-fold unit has been added to the Stahlfolder KH 66, which is claimed to cut makereadies by up to 80%, and offers a speed boost to 230m/min.

The Stitchmaster ST 450 has also benefited from tweaks to its upright and horizontal feeders, featuring an 'intelligent' electronic vacuum control that cuts its compressed air requirement by 10%, and a new stream feeder for automatic loading.

In the pre-media arena, the group has boosted the productivity and image quality capabilities of its B3 and B2 thermal platesetters, the A52 and A75 Suprasetters.

Both machines will now be available with the option of a Dual Top Loader, which can boost productivity by almost 60% by enabling non-stop plate production of two different plate sizes. The firm has also added a 5,080dpi high-resolution option the machines.

The next generation of its Prinect Image Control, which will be available at the end of the year, will also be unveiled at the NEC. The latest version features a higher resolution spectral image measurement system and, according to Heidelberg, has been made more user-friendly. The most recent versions of its Axis and Impress Control will also be on show at Ipex.

The latest incarnation of Prinect, which will begin shipping in Q3, will, according to Heidelberg, make end-to-end production management a reality.

The highlights of the raft of upgrades to the company's workflow package include the latest version of Pressroom manager, which has been developed to link with a wider range of third-party MIS, and improvements to the Postpress Manager module, which means the latest Polar guillotines can now also be fully integrated.

However it was the press portfolio that, unsurprisingly, benefited from the highest number of enhancements.

The Speedmaster SM 52 Anicolor will be available for UV printing, including waterless, with immediate effect. The Speedmaster 52 family, including the Anicolor, has also benefited from a new coating unit featuring the manufacturer's DryStar Coating dryer, which will have two options, a twin roller or chambered blade configuration.

The XL 105 will be Heidelberg's largest press on show at the NEC and will be demonstrated with a new fully automated 'non-stop delivery' system aimed squarely at packaging printers.

Also of appeal to packaging printers will be the latest incarnation of its on-press cold-foiling module, FoilStar, which can now 'index' the foil to substantially reduce costs by only using enough foil for each sheet. FoilStar will begin shipping in autumn.

Other press developments included CleanStar, an air extraction system for the Speedmaster XL 75.

While the company's footprint at the show will be around half of what it was at Ipex 2006, Plenz said: "We will be showcasing a larger number of new and enhanced products then ever before."

At its pre-Ipex briefing this week, Heidelberg revealed that its VLF press family had also been expanded, although these won't be on show in Birmingham, with the first double coater version of its XL 162 already having been installed.

It also unveiled a perfecting version of its XL 162 press. The monster press features an innovative gripper mechanism on the delivery centred on a two-tonne gearbox that enables the press to handle lighter stocks by gripping both the leading and trailing edges of the sheet in delivery.

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