The press conference took place on the eve of the digi:media show in Düsseldorf.

Speaking at the event Heidelberg chief executive Bernhard Schreier revealed that a digital sales push in the UK and Germany – the first two territories in what will eventually be a global roll-out – went live as of 6 April.

Heidelberg has also gone public with the identity of the first customer for its digital solution, Stünings Medien in Krefeld, Germany.

Ricoh president and chief executive Shiro Kondo was originally slated to speak at the briefing but changed his plans in order to remain at the helm in Japan dealing with the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami devastation.

Speaking on his behalf, Simon Sasaki, chairman and chief executive of Ricoh Europe, said Ricoh was "on our way to move to the leader in production printing business", after achieving mid-range market leadership with the Pro C900. The Heidelberg partnership is based on the enhanced Pro C901 model.

"As we have grown to become a recognised and credible alternative to the traditional suppliers in the market, the synergies of our partnership are clear," Sasaki added. "Heidelberg can satisfy its loyal customers with a proven digital production solution from Ricoh. And we, in turn, can see more commercial printers benefiting from the productivity and flexibility of our digital production systems."

Heidelberg also showed a prototype version of Prinect with a centralised workflow for both offset and digital.

More to follow.