Printing industry managers still regard the digitalization and automation of business and production processes as one of their biggest challenges. The entire printing sector is in the midst of a digital transformation. Many print shops are searching for solutions that will enable them to put the new technological possibilities to successful use.

Surveys conducted by Heidelberg among printing companies in all key markets worldwide confirm these findings.

“Automation is becoming all the more important for the competitiveness of print shops as print runs shrink, the volume of small jobs grows, staff shortages increase, and personnel costs rise ever higher. In this situation, attention is focusing on hybrid print production with an automated and increasingly AI-driven workflow,” says Dr. David Schmedding, chief technology and sales officer at Heidelberg.

SHIFT 2025

SHIFT 2025 – the new international summit initiated by Heidelberg – is now set to address these hot topics. The aim is to help print shops with their digital transformation. The two-day summit is taking place on September 16 at the halle02 events venue in downtown Heidelberg and September 17 in the Heidelberg Print Media Center – the Home of Print – at the company’s Wiesloch-Walldorf site. The target groups are managers and employees of commercial, packaging, and label printing companies of all sizes.

“At SHIFT 2025, Heidelberg will be bringing together the printing industry’s digitalization experts. A whole host of practical presentations and workshops will enable them to obtain information about various approaches to process automation. We will be offering participants a unique platform to compare notes on the challenges and how to go about the digital transformation of business and production processes,” explains Christopher Berti, head of Digital Ecosystem at Heidelberg.

Workflow automation in a hybrid production environment

On the first day of the summit, decision-makers will discuss digitalization projects that they have successfully implemented at their companies. Presentations will focus on goals, challenges, approaches, and results. 

On day two, the event will continue at the Heidelberg Wiesloch-Walldorf site. In the new Home of Print, which opened here in June, the end-to-end solutions of Heidelberg take center stage. The company will also showcase its credentials as a full-range provider with a portfolio for offset, digital, and flexographic printing that is incorporated into a comprehensive ecosystem containing numerous software solutions for process automation.

Participants will be able to learn about digital process control in a hybrid workflow environment that includes both offset and digital printing technologies. The presentations will be complemented by topic-specific workshops that enable participants to select their own focus areas.

A further focal point will be the growing importance of AI. This technology is already being used successfully in many aspects of production. At the most recent drupa, Heidelberg also unveiled Prinect Touch Free. This new AI-driven production software decides independently and dynamically what is the most efficient output channel for producing print jobs. It bases this decision on all the orders in hand, as well as comprehensive machine, production, and job data.