60 Years of Stahlfolder Production

Heidelberg Celebrates 60 Years of Stahlfolder Production in Ludwigsburg

- Folding machines - a global success story
- Constant expansion of product portfolio and market position
- Postpress an integral part of the Heidelberg solution strategy
- Integration via Prinect Postpress Manager ensures high productivity and quality

The Ludwigsburg site of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) is celebrating the 60th anniversary of its folding machines. In 1949, Kurt Stahl and Adolf I. Döpfert founded the company Stahl & Co. Maschinenfabrik Ludwigsburg. Shortly afterwards, engineer Kurt Stahl constructed and presented his first folding machine, while businessman Adolf I. Döpfert built up the sales side of the company. During the nascent years of the company, sales operations were limited to Germany, before then undergoing expansion through the worldwide sales and service network of Heidelberg. Today, the Stahlfolder name is synonymous with folding machines. Customers from all corners of the globe will have the chance to find out why in the course of the "Stahlfolder Demo Weeks" to be held at the Information Center in Ludwigsburg between the end of April and mid-May 2009.

Postpress an integral part of the Heidelberg solution strategy
Particularly in these current times, postpress offers customers potential for optimization and value creation, and an opportunity to make themselves stand out from the competition. "Postpress is an integral part of our product portfolio and its share of sales is growing," says Stephan Plenz, Member of the Heidelberg Management Board responsible for Technology and Operations. "We are the only manufacturer to offer our customers complete solutions, from prepress to press and postpress. We have the most extensive product portfolio in the field of sheetfed offset, and it is carefully geared toward generating customer benefits," continues Plenz. The postpress range includes systems and machines for folding, collating, binding and stitching magazines, brochures and books.

Introduced for the first time at drupa 2008, Prinect Postpress Manager is able to integrate all processes, reflecting the trend toward shorter throughput times and runs. "Using innovative solutions that are simple to operate and technologically superior, we aim to make sure commercial and industrial printers and bookbinders are ready to face what the future may hold," explains Thomas Krischke, Head of Postpress Commercial. That includes the state-of-the-art Systemservice featuring the most comprehensive service network in the industry, and the training program offered by the Print Media Academy. Services such as Business Consulting provide support to print shops and postpress specialists, helping them identify additional potential in terms of productivity and savings. Expansion in the consumables sector is intended to compensate the cyclical nature of the machine business in the future. Over 1,000 sales personnel and around 4,500 technicians in 170 countries and 250 branches ensure all aspects of postpress are also represented worldwide.