Heidelberg is marking its 175th anniversary with a week of celebrations at the company’s Wiesloch-Walldorf site in Germany. The company hosted a celebration event, drawing over 1,500 guests from all over the world. The opening ceremony took place for the Print Media Center (PMC) in its new look as the Home of Print.

Jürgen Otto, CEO of Heidelberg, greeted customers, suppliers, partners, politicians, and representatives attending the ceremony. He said, “A warm welcome to Heidelberg and a warm welcome to our Home of Print, the printing industry’s largest customer experience center anywhere in the world. We have now been the Home of Print for 175 years.”

“175 years of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen stand for outstanding innovative strength and unparalleled customer focus,” added Bertram Kawlath, president of VDMA Association. “As VDMA, we honor this success story, which impressively demonstrates how mechanical engineering companies from Germany and Europe set standards worldwide – yesterday, today, and in the future.”

The ‘Home of Print’

Rebranded as the Home of Print, the redesigned PMC tracks the company’s growth strategy for its core business and presents future-proof and specific solutions that will appeal to all relevant target groups. For example, various end-to-end production systems are available for customer presentations. These take place in collaboration with partners such as Polar and MK Masterwork – from high-quality folding carton production with the Speedmaster series, high-volume folding carton printing with the new Boardmaster flexographic web printing system, and industrial label production using offset, digital, and flexographic printing through to commercial printing and hybrid print production (digital/offset).

Meanwhile, the entire Heidelberg portfolio has been incorporated into a single digital ecosystem, comprising Prinect software, equipment (including postpress solutions and robotics), consumables, service, training, and consulting. In its very own data lab, Heidelberg offers a number of case studies to demonstrate how the company can harness its data expertise and use data analyses to help customers with their requirements and business model.

“Our Home of Print reflects our growth strategy for our core business, which showcases Heidelberg as a collaborative total solution provider and end-to-end systems integrator for packaging and commercial printing,” says David Schmedding, chief technology and sales officer at Heidelberg. “This is unique in the industry.”

New packaging solution launched

To coincide with its anniversary, Heidelberg has also announced an important addition to its portfolio for packaging customers, unveiling the Cartonmaster CX 145 press for the very large format (VLF, format class 6, 105 cm × 145 cm / 41.34 × 57.09 in). By focusing in particular on high-volume folding carton production in the growing food, beverage, and consumer packaging segment, this system is plugging a gap in the company’s portfolio.

Ecosystem for industrial digital printing extended

Heidelberg is extending its portfolio for industrial digital printing and integrating post-press solutions from C.P. Bourg and Tecnau into its Jetfire 50 ecosystem. This means Jetfire 50 customers will benefit from sales, software, service, and consulting from a single source. Thanks to this complementary portfolio, they can produce all kinds of end products in inline and near-line processes.

Early in 2025, Heidelberg also launched the Stahlfolder Fireline concept to manufacture cut and folded products in conjunction with the Jetfire 50.

A new experience

Redesigned as the Home of Print, the Print Media Center at the Wiesloch-Walldorf site covers an area of 9,000 square meters. Each year, some 1,000 personalized presentations take place, with customers usually bringing along their own print jobs to test.

No fewer than 120 Heidelberg experts are on-hand to share their technical expertise and comprehensive application know-how.

Throughout the year, the company also organizes open house events for German and international customers. These events focus on the key industry trends in packaging, label, and commercial printing. On top of that, Heidelberg provides around 100 guided tours of the PMC every year for visitors. There are also regular training sessions for the Heidelberg service team. Besides the Print Media Center at the Wiesloch-Walldorf site, the company also operates a global network of further customer demonstration centers in the USA, China, Japan, Indonesia, and Switzerland.