Despite the many challenges of a COVID-19 world, one clear advantage of a socially distant environment has risen to the top – information is now available to people faster and easier than ever before. Heidelberg, in response to this changing dynamic, is “pressing ahead” by implementing creative and agile solutions, both in the US and globally, to support its customers across the commercial, packaging, and label print segments. With a strong focus on eliminating customers’ current pain points, Heidelberg is easing customer interaction through realignment of its product management structure and focusing on new virtual customer experiences including its own “Innovation Week” event, Printing United’s “Insight Days,” and ongoing remote demonstrations for its North American customers from its Print Media Centers in both Wiesloch, Germany, and Atlanta.

Focusing on end-to-end products that offer measurable productivity benefits for its customers, Heidelberg has recently announced the realignment of its product management group. In North America, Heidelberg has named Clarence Penge its Executive Vice President: Head of Product Management. With 26 years of experience with Heidelberg and serving most recently as Vice President of Sheetfed Product Management in North America, Penge hopes to bring together Heidelberg’s various product areas to give customers a more focused and comprehensive approach to the purchasing process and improved speed-to-market.

According to Penge, “Many companies, like Heidelberg, have historically treated their vast portfolios as individual product silos. Unfortunately, I think this can negatively impact customers who can benefit from a more holistic view of their production challenges. By working across our business areas, I hope that we will be able to add value and provide the most technically advanced solutions to improve our customers’ bottom line.”

In Penge’s new role, he will oversee the business areas of Prinect, Sheetfed, Digital, Commercial and Postpress Packaging as well as North America’s Print Media Center Atlanta. According to Felix Mueller, President of Heidelberg Americas, “With this realignment, we will be able to analyze our customers’ manufacturing process as a whole and work together to help them overcome their pain points and improve their efficiency and profitability.”

A common pain point that Heidelberg often sees with its customers is color matching between offset and digital printing – an issue that can be resolved by integrating a shop’s Speedmaster and Versafire with Heidelberg’s Prinect Production Manager workflow. “This integration allows jobs to be easily color managed and sent between the two devices based on print quantity. Heidelberg is the only company that can ensure that all of these different products work seamlessly together – making our customers more efficient and competitive,” says Mueller.       


Going Virtual
Also with a clear focus on its customers’ efficiency and competitive edge, Heidelberg will host its first large-scale, virtual customer event from October 19-23. “Innovation Week” will present its latest technology advancements across the commercial, label, and packaging segments – aimed at helping customers uncover or “unfold” their true potential. The Innovation Week will take place via livestream, and customers will be able to access the content at the beginning of each day on-demand. For more information on the content for “Innovation Week” and to register for the event, click here.

“We need to align ourselves with our customers’ expectations,” says Mueller. “Our customers now need information faster than ever before – Innovation Week will present our newest innovations that we’ve developed specifically to help them succeed in this competitive market.”

In addition to “Innovation Week,” Heidelberg North America has also signed on to sponsor Printing United’s ambitious 14-day virtual tradeshow, “Insight Days.” Starting October 26th, customers will be able to learn about the latest innovations from all print industry vendors – across a variety of segments from commercial, packaging, and label to textile and wide format. “While we would have liked to host customers in person in Atlanta, Insight Days still gives the print industry the unique opportunity to unite with the same mission – to educate and inform ourselves on what is new and how we can better serve our customers. As a proud Platinum sponsor of Printing United 2021, we look forward to being able to come together again in person in Orlando,” said Mueller.

To supplement these larger virtual events, Heidelberg has also seen an uptick in requests for virtual, personalized demonstrations from its Print Media Centers. These demonstrations, which can be performed live from either Wiesloch or Atlanta, enable customers to see customized product presentations across all of Heidelberg’s product areas from the comfort of their computer screens; it also enables them to ask Heidelberg’s product experts questions in real time. For customers wishing to visit PMC Atlanta in person, Heidelberg has also implemented new processes and procedures according to CDC guidelines to ensure customer and employee safety.