Heidelberg’s new, scalable contract portfolio is now placing greater emphasis on the partnership-based approach adopted by the OEM that focuses on improving the business performance of its customers. The Heidelberg subscription model under which customers no longer pay for the equipment they use, but simply for the number of sheets they produce, has now become successfully established throughout the printing and graphic arts community. The company is therefore further expanding its data-based contract business and adding to its existing Heidelberg Subscription Portfolio. The four new options support its Smart Print Shop concept developed by Heidelberg. The newly established print-site contracts provide a variable combination of consumables, services, software, performance consulting, training and equipment solutions in a single package – with the aim of further improving a print shop’s machine availability and overall performance.
Print-site contracts – four packages now available
Print-site contracts are available in the form of lifecycle agreements or subscriptions. Customers have a choice of four packages with different scopes of services and methods of payment. They range from a “Lifecycle Smart” contract that includes services and consumables to a “Subscription Plus” package that covers consulting, training, service, consumables, Prinect software and equipment solutions. All four packages aim to maximize customers’ overall equipment efficiency (OEE), which represents the actual added value when compared to purchasing individual components. Along with reducing make-ready and throughput times, the overall focus is on increasing net output while also generating less waste. In addition to state-of-the-art equipment solutions and on-site process consulting, customers will also benefit from the many years of experience and expertise on which Heidelberg application specialists base their recommendations – such as the appropriate consumables for a particular situation.
The monthly fees for the standard “Lifecycle Smart” and “Lifecycle Plus” packages are determined by the services used. The OEM’s “Subscription Smart” and “Subscription Plus” options, on the other hand, depend on the actual output. The packages can be combined with the purchase of a new press or based on the customer’s existing equipment. “Customers opting for one of these contracts can rest assured that only coordinated consumables and services of the usual high Heidelberg quality are used,” said the company. “They also avoid the considerable expense of obtaining each of the offerings included in the contract individually.” The Heidelberg Assistant digital portal plays a key role, too, providing contract customers with a digital link to several additional services such as a vendor-managed inventory, important real-time information relating to their company’s performance, and easy access to the Heidelberg eShop .
“Heidelberg is helping to improve the print shop production process with our new range of partnership-based print-site contracts, leaving customers to focus more on their market, and on developing service and product innovations,” said Garo Derderian, head of the Lifecycle Business at Heidelberg. “With its expanded contract portfolio, Heidelberg is making an altogether more active contribution to improving print-shop performance. Perfect interaction of the various components is the only way of optimizing the production process. The extensive wealth of data obtained via the link to machines in the service environment, which Heidelberg makes a point of utilizing for the new contracts, plays a key role in this regard,” he added.
Heidelberg introduces new contract options to reduce print shop costs and boost efficiency
