Digital print will be as significant as offset to Heidelberg within seven years chairman Bernhard Schreier told the PPAs Digital Production Conference.

A big challenge for us, printers and their customers is how to use digital print, he said. Variable data offers new opportunities and markets.

Digital print is one of three areas that Heidelberg will focus on at Ipex. A market that is growing at 10% a year for monochrome and 20% for colour, according to Schreier. Process integration and finishing are the other two areas.

Finishing is a major differentiator for printers and their customers, he said. We will be making big acquisitions and partnerships in the finishing area.
Over the next 10 years Schreier predicted that turning the changes into technology into profits will be a key to success and will involve closer co-operation between supplier, printers and customers.
He believes that in 2010 demand for print will still be growing, although less slowly than at present. Internet and wireless technologies will create demand for new forms of print based on digital technology.

Printers of 2010 will look very different, he said. Theyll move from manufacturing to service and from printing to helping customers manage information.

There is a rainbow of opportunity to add value to each sheet through customisation and faster production.

Story by Barney Cox