Print Leader Unveils Largest Demo Center in North America,
Latest Packaging Solutions
Kennesaw, Ga., - Heidelberg recently hosted more than 160 of
the nation's top packaging printers, including folding carton
producers and commercial printers involved in packaging, at its
first annual Packaging Inforum & Open House. Held at
Heidelberg's U.S. headquarters in Kennesaw, Ga., the event took
place May 16 and 17 and gave attendees an exclusive look at
Heidelberg's latest solutions for the packaging market. The event
was hosted in Heidelberg's recently expanded Print Media
Demonstration Center (PMDC), which is the largest demo center in
North America.
Talking about Heidelberg's PMDC and his experience at the
packaging event, Don Sinkin, CEO, Disc Graphics said, "Heidelberg
has the best demonstration center in the industry that I've seen.
The opportunity to experience Heidelberg's packaging offerings
first-hand and tap into their expertise helps companies like ours
make important business decisions and prepare for the future."
Among the event highlights, Heidelberg unveiled the new
6,000-square foot packaging addition to its now 40,000-square foot
PMDC, debuted its Diana X 135 folding carton gluer for the first
time in the North American market and previewed its drupa 2008
very-large-format (VLF) press offerings. Visitors experienced
Heidelberg's full complement of packaging solutions, from prepress
to press to postpress offerings, many of which are housed in the
new Packaging demo center. The event also included a series of
educational sessions and interactive product demonstrations as well
as a behind-the-scenes tour of Heidelberg's facilities and system
service support call center.
"We were excited to host an esteemed group of printers at our
PMDC facility and engage in important discussions about their
business needs," said Jim Dunn, president, Heidelberg USA.
"Heidelberg is committed to continuing to invest in technologies,
solutions and education for the print media industry to
meet the growing needs of our customers."
In the evening, visitors attended a dinner, where they heard
from keynote speaker John Bernardo, manager of Sustainable
Innovations, LLC, who discussed the importance of sustainable
business operations in today's packaging environment.
During the dinner, Mr. Corey Gustafson of Johns Byrne was
awarded an endowment from Heidelberg. The endowment allowed for a
5,000 Dollar donation to be made in Mr. Gustafson's name to Ferris
State University, the graphic arts school of his choice. In
addition to the donation from Heidelberg, Johns Byrne will make an
additional donation to the scholarship. The combined donation will
go to the Print and Graphics Scholarship Foundation (PGSF), which
is housed under the same roof as PIA/GATF, and has coordinated the
printing industry's largest scholarship program since its
inception in 1956. The donation in Mr. Gustafson's name will be
added to a larger fund that PGSF administers. This ensures that the
donation will act as principal to ensure that the money is
available year after year for distribution to qualifying students.
Heidelberg chose to give a scholarship endowment in the name
of the raffle winner as part of its commitment to support graphics
arts education and the print industry as a whole. Heidelberg is
deeply committed to industry education with its Print Media Academy
(PMA), its support of numerous print media industry associations
and organizations and the ongoing donation of equipment and funds
to schools offering graphic arts curricula.
Heidelberg provides a broad range of packaging solutions,
including folding carton gluing, die-cutting, embossing and hot
foil stamping machines as well as image setters, printing presses,
cutters, stitchers and workflow and consumables offerings. The
event included demonstrations on Heidelberg's Dymatrix 106 CSB
high-performance, full-size format diecutter with stripping and
blanking, Varimatrix 105 CS full-size format diecutter with
stripping; KAMA ProCut 74 half-size format die-cutter with foil
stamping and ECO 105 entry-level folding carton gluer. Many of the
latest Heidelberg packaging solutions can be seen in the new
packaging area of Heidelberg's PMDC in Kennesaw.
The Heidelberg Packaging Inforum & Open House concluded
with a series of educational sessions hosted by Heidelberg's Print
Media Academy (PMA). Sessions focused on key topics such as folder
automation, short-run perfect binding and ink jetting in-line with
finishing. Heidelberg's PMA offers year-round training classes for
printers and has established a reputation as an unparalleled
knowledge platform for managing printing challenges of the future.
These unique training sessions introduce new printing applications
and technologies, and provide information on marketing, sales and
management strategies to specialists and managers who are looking
to further develop their businesses.
In addition to folding carton producers and commercial
printers, Heidelberg invited eight vendors from die cutting
tooling, adhesive application systems and adhesive supplier
companies to show their latest offerings at the packaging event.
Vendors that participated in the event included: Atlas Die, Carton
Craft, WH Leary, HHS America, Capital Adhesives, C&A Corp. and
National Starch.
Editorial Contact:
Manning Selvage & Lee
Rebecca Harbin
Tel.: +1 404-870-6825
E-mail:
rebecca.harbin@mslpr.com