Richard Armstrong, president of Heidelberg Canada, gives us some valuable insights in this month’s For The Record.
What do you view as your strengths and where do you feel you need to improve?
Our broad product range of equipment and consumables allows us to bundle solutions. This is a strategic advantage for Heidelberg and can be a competitive advantage for our customers. We are fortunate to have an excellent portfolio of products including our XL105 peak performance sheetfed machine. Our Inpress Control system has also been well accepted and allows our customers to print with high quality, consistency and productivity. The system measures spectral colour values and register inside the press and makes adjustments to the machine on the run, saving critical time and waste paper. The VLF Sheetfed market has been an outstanding success for us globally. Heidelberg Canada installed the first XL162-6 LX3 Logistics press in Canada last year and we see many opportunities for this technology. Our expansive service network in Canada is still the largest in the industry and we have technicians located across Canada. Our technicians and factory can also remotely access most of our equipment for quick troubleshooting. Regarding areas to improve, our gap in digital printing needs to be filled. Heidelberg has been absent from this segment for a number of years, and it is critical for us to offer our customers solutions that integrate well into the Heidelberg platform. I am confident we will achieve this.
2. What’s on the immediate horizon in 2011 for Heidelberg and your Canadian clients?
In the last few years, Heidelberg has developed a business consulting offering for our customers. We have conducted many projects in Canada including productivity improvements, 5S projects and workflow studies. We strongly believe our success in the future is tied to making our customers as efficient and productive as we can. We are also offering detailed productivity reports on their newer Heidelberg machines. This allows our clients to continuously improve their operations and reduce manufacturing costs. In the past, selling a press meant delivering the machine, installing, training and providing warranty support. Today we can offer our customers complete support in achieving their productivity targets.
3. Are you still focusing on Saphira consumables? Any new products or product lines?
Saphira is Heidelberg’s private label brand, and we are continually adding new products to our existing portfolio of plates, proofing papers, inks, blankets, coatings and chemicals. Our objective is to sell products that have an excellent price/performance rating. This year, we added a complete line of high quality rollers for our sheetfed presses and a new line of Saphira Coatings manufactured by Heidelberg that offer superb performance and attractive pricing. We also introduced the Asahi Water Wash Flexo plate to the Canadian market last year. This is a high-quality Flexo polymer plate that is processed with water versus current plates that use harsh chemicals. We are showing our customers the performance and value they bring.
4. What are the biggest challenges facing Canadian printers and what can they do?
I believe it is balancing the need to re-invest in new technology with reduced print volumes and pricing. The strong Canadian dollar has reduced a once buoyant print export market and moved Canada from a net exporter to an importer of print. I see this trend continuing in the future and print volumes remaining a challenge. I also hear from printers that print pricing continues to be at record low levels. Just like print volumes, I see no relief in print pricing in the near future. As far as strategies to combat these challenges, many printers have added ancillary services such as fulfillment and wide-format inkjet in order to become a “solutions” provider to their customers. Without this type of differentiation, printers only have price to talk about. Therefore, I see this as a critical time for printers to examine their business carefully and make key strategic investments.
5. Anything else you’d like to tell to our audience?
Our industry is going through a massive technological revolution and economic shift. Developments such as CTP, workflow and highly automated machines have driven massive amounts of labour out of the process. Competing communication technologies such as the Internet, eBooks, etc. have also replaced some print. Printers need to find a position to play on this new stage. I see a clear parallel between what our customers are going through now and how Heidelberg has had to evolve. Only 10 years ago, 100 percent of sales came from the sale of equipment. Today, it is less than 50 percent. I expect that in another 10 years this ratio will change again. My message is that you cannot stand still; you need to continue to offer new products and services to your customers in order to remain relevant.
