Offset Printing

Heidelberg Celebrates 100 VLF Press Shipments

Thursday 25. September 2014 - RockTenn and Heidelberg celebrated the growth and market investment activity for the Speedmaster Sheetfed Offset XL 145/162 Press Product Line

RockTenn, a major industry producer in the folding carton, corrugated box and merchandising display global markets, has purchased the 100th Heidelberg Very Large Format (VLF) Press, which will be installed at RockTenn’s Clinton, Iowa location. In recent years, RockTenn has invested in numerous installations of the Heidelberg VLF format in both their folding carton and merchandising displays facilities.
Steve Voorhees, RockTenn CEO, and Craig Gunckel, executive vice president of merchandising display and folding carton, were on hand at Heidelberg’s Hall 11 assembly center, part of the Heidelberg Wiesloch-Walldorf Factory complex, to inspect the press and participate in a special event with Heidelberg executives and employees to salute the 100th press accomplishment. Mr. Voorhees stated, “Our investment in VLF presses is consistent with RockTenn’s strategy to deploy high quality assets that allow us to lower our cost, improve our quality, and ultimately, to service our clients more efficiently. We are honored to be part of the celebration.”
Launched in 2008, the XL VLF platform is the newest press platform in the industry. Heidelberg’s investments in research and product development resulted in this large format press, which received numerous industry awards for innovation and design excellence, including the prestigious InterTechTM Technology Awards for innovative technology. With systematic advantages in the makeready process and industry-leading speeds of up to 18,000 sheets per hour, the press is an excellent choice to serve both the short-run display markets as well as the high-volume leaders in the packaging industry.
Heidelberg customers around the world have installed the most modern, technically advanced and fully automated large format presses available in the industry today. Heidelberg’s investments in customer support services and global parts supply logistics provide customers with the most efficient process for maximizing machine performance and uptime. Highly integrated software systems provide remote diagnostics capability for analysis of machine performance on a 24/7 basis, clearly meeting the rugged manufacturing demands that the industry leading customers require.
Heidelberg Management Board Member Harald Weimer stated, “Relationships with a strategic industry leader and partner like RockTenn, representing world-class manufacturing practices at the highest level, help Heidelberg perform at its best. Getting to know the RockTenn team and working closely with their plants has definitely moved our VLF product line to peak performance status.”
“Our strategic partnership with Heidelberg has generated great results for RockTenn and our clients,” Gunckel commented. “We look forward to working with Heidelberg to find new solutions that will help our customers continue to win in their respective markets.”