The printing solutions supplied by the company’s Linoprint business area are part of the new Heidelberg digital printing portfolio designed for cost-effective production of short print runs and individualized print products. Heidelberg is presenting the latest Linoprint solutions developed specifically for the packaging industry and consumer goods manufacturers at the interpack in.

According to independent market surveys, the sales volume of digitally printed folding-carton boxes, foils, and labels amounted to EUR 2.5 billion in 2009. This figure is expected to increase with annual growth rates of around 17 percent until 2015. “UV inkjet printing is rapidly gaining importance thanks to its versatility in the choice of substrates and the fact that it can be directly integrated into packaging production lines,” said Stephan Plenz, member of the Heidelberg Management Board, responsible for Equipment. “Together with our recently established partnership with Ricoh, the Linoprint portfolio represents a second stronghold in our range of digital printing solutions. Linoprint gives our customers the flexibility they need to cost-effectively manufacture high-quality small and variable lot sizes in the packaging production.”

On the occasion of interpack Heidelberg is showing how folding-carton boxes produced in offset can be individualized using UV inkjet technology. Consumer goods, packaging and bottling companies benefit from solutions that enable individual branding and labeling with a choice of substrate options. The DriveLine C printing system developed by Heidelberg for folding-carton boxes and blanks makes it possible to print extremely short runs with high-quality logos or labels in different language versions.

The Heidelberg DriveLine B and DriveLine F solutions are designed for applications in the pharmaceutical industry. Presented to the public for the first time at interpack, the DriveLine F system can be integrated directly into a packaging line and offers maximum versatility and reliability for the production of individualized blister pack foils. The strengths of the DriveLine B stand-alone system lie in the fact that it supports multiple packaging lines simultaneously and can also be assimilated into an existing production environment.

Heidelberg is also presenting a series of business models at interpack that offer environment-friendly print product finishing and designing based on sheet-fed offset technology. The joint projects, realized with other companies, are on display in the Innovationparc Packaging health and well-being section.