This month, I sat down with Richard Armstrong, president of Heidelberg Canada, to find out what he thought of the Print 09 show and what’s coming up for the Heidelberg Canada.
K: How did Print 09 go for Heidelberg, and what was your overall impression of the show?
R: From my perspective on the Canadian side, it was very good. I would say that all regions of the country were represented – and I was extremely busy!
K: What sort of infrastructure do you have in place to support your consumables business in Canada?
R: We moved into the consumables business in 1999. Strategically, it has been a great move for us because it really helps balance out our capital equipment sales. There can be high peaks and low valleys in terms of capital equipment. In terms of our infrastructure, we have a dedicated sales team selling our consumables. We have products specialists in the field such as plate specialists and ink specialists across the country. Behind all of that, we have a product management team here in Toronto working with our suppliers on selecting the best products that work best with customers’ equipment, whether it’s Heidelberg or not.
K: What benefits are you offering customers through your coast-to-coast sales and service program?
R: Something that Heidelberg has strategically believed [to be] very important was being close to our customers to support them both on a consultative approach and on the after-sale support side with our technical staff. Three years ago, we introduced the unique “Systems Service 36.” This was revolutionary to the industry – all our sheetfed presses come with the service program. When our customers purchase a new Heidelberg press, it is covered for parts, labour and maintenance for three years, which takes the worry and cost away. The least hassle customers have with their equipment, the better.
K: What is your company doing to be environmentally friendly as well as to assist your customers in their focus on sustainability?
R: Heidelberg has been working on this long before it was something that became a topic in the media. We spend the time in the design of our equipment to think about lowest power consumption for higher output, [and we use] green technology anywhere we can in our machines.
When it comes to consumables, we think in the same way. We work with suppliers to develop products that are eco-friendly. We introduced the new “Bio Series Saphira” sheetfed ink line, which has the lowest VOCs of any ink series in North America. We received our EcoLogo Certification for this product, and we’ve seen a lot of prominent sheetfed printers move towards using this ink. It’s also a very well-performing ink – you aren’t losing any of the performance, but you gain environmental benefits.
K: What role do you believe a vendor should play in providing education on new technologies and processes to the customer and how does Heidelberg address this?
R: I think it’s very important, as suppliers. Our departments continually develop new technologies and offer them to the industry. It is incumbent upon us to help customers understand the benefits of the technology and the value they bring to the whole print process, making print a more competitive media.
We are also involved in many educational programs such as at Ryerson and Algonquin. It is very important to help facilitate students to learn about our industry and technology. It is so important, [and] something that we’ve developed here. Heidelberg also has its own Print Media Academy, which we operate in several centres around the world. We offer management courses and hold various technical training sessions on our printing equipment about how to run certain presses and finishing systems.
K: What is a main factor that you think is contributing to Heidelberg’s survival in these tough economic times?
R: I would say good foresight. Heidelberg, over the last five years, spent a lot of money investing in new technologies. We didn’t just sit back and sell the products we had; we invested a lot in developing the XL 105 platform of presses and in our prepress workflow. We also spent a lot in the VLF series, the XL 145 and the XL 162 and those investments are paying off now. One critical thing that Heidelberg did was invest in the future.
K: Are there any particular areas that Heidelberg is really optimistic about in the coming year?
R: I think the big one is capital equipment sales is starting to pick up. It’s not a surprise, but every vendor has seen a weakening in their sales. But, things are starting to loosen up and the optimism is that there is a pent up demand for equipment.
K: On a more personal note, what kind of advice would you give to smaller print companies out there in these tough times – what can they learn from Heidelberg?
R: I think the most important thing as my advice to printers is to identify themselves as a solution provider to their customer base. The day of people just being a “printer” is not as profitable as it was in the past. I think they need to diversify the company and position themselves as a total solutions provider.
