Heidelberg Digital Surpasses Sales Goals by over 25 Percent in its First Year of Operation

Heidelberg Digital, L.L.C. marked its one-year anniversary with results that show the company is well on its way toward achieving its market share goal for black-and-white, high-volume print systems.

This month, the company shipped its 1,000th Digimaster digital print system engine. The milestone means the company exceeded its first-year sales objective by more than 25 percent and, according to its projections, has achieved one-third of its market share goal of 30 percent of the digital high-volume marketplace (at least 90 images per minute) by 2005.

The company attributes the product's success to four key factors:

• The Digimaster engine's value proposition and reliability, which make it an attractive solution.
• The Heidelberg Digital workforce, skillfully applying years of industry experience and proven expertise.
• The market strengths of its sales channels: Canon, Danka, Heidelberg and IBM.
• A growing market, which is being fueled by new customers and a large base of customers transitioning to digital solutions. Heidelberg Digital reported that it has continually increased production to meet the growing demand for its high-volume, on-demand engine, while improving manufacturing quality. Company officials also said that its ImageSource 120 duplicator is performing well in the market, meeting the needs of customers who have yet to turn to digital solutions.

"We're proud of what we've accomplished in our first year, and I want to recognize all of our employees for their hard work," said Wolfgang Pfizenmaier, Heidelberg Digital president and CEO. "Our early success shows that Heidelberg is now a major player in the digital black-and-white market, and that our aggressive five-year market share goals will be achieved."

What a difference a year makes
In May 1999 Heidelberg, the world's leading printing and publishing solutions provider, entered the electrophotographic market by acquiring Eastman Kodak Companyís Office Imaging division.

Rather than having to build a new business from the ground up, Heidelberg burst out of the gate with experienced employees and two state-of-the-art products already in its portfolio ó the Digimaster 9110 and the ImageSource 120.

• Digimaster enables 110-page per minute black-and-white printing and employs an open architecture. The digital print engine is now available through four channels - Canon, Danka, Heidelberg and IBM. Canon offers the imageRUNNER 110; Danka and Heidelberg sell the Digimaster 9110; and IBM employs the engine in its Infoprint 2000 solutions.
• At 120 pages per minute, the ImageSource 120 duplicator offers the fastest speed at its price point, and the abilities to add accent color and merge digital data from a floppy make it an ideal choice. The critically acclaimed duplicator is a Better Buys for Business "Editor's Choice" for 2000 and the version sold by Canon - the Canon NP9120 - was named Buyerís Lab "Copier of the Year."

Heidelberg has made the digital division a centerpiece of its strategy for the future, Pfizenmaier added.

Mark Weber, COO of NexPress Black & White, which markets current solutions and develops future programs for Heidelberg Digital, credits Heidelberg for its support.

"What we've achieved in our first year is tremendous, and Heidelberg has given us the tools to make it happen," Weber said. "When we set out to build a new black-and-white business, we were confident in our formula for success - a superior product, technology leadership and a talented workforce. It's rewarding to look back over the last year and see how the elements have come together to deliver success beyond our expectations. Our strength and spirit will help us achieve greater success in the years to come."

Manufacturing muscle
To meet increasing product demand, the division has ramped up production at its manufacturing facility in Rochester, N.Y.

The Equipment Manufacturing team of 240 employees has been up to the task, working long hours to get the job done. The teamís combination of speed, quality and efficiency has enabled the company to now produce the product within eight days. And the company plans to continually improve on it. While it is working double-duty to meet demand, the manufacturing team is also achieving greater quality on the assembly line. The number of defects per million has been reduced by 65 percent since the productís introduction.

"Supplying high-volume print systems for multiple channel partners is no easy task," said Jean Bauman, Heidelberg Digital's Rochester plant manager. "It's even more challenging when sales are exceeding expectations. While it means a lot of overtime and hard work for the manufacturing team, we are committed to meeting the demand of all of our channel partners, while delivering the highest possible quality."

A strategy for long-term success
The company will continue to be an aggressive player in the market.

"Having been in this industry for decades, I know - and our employees understand - that success isn't easy to achieve or to sustain," said Weber. "Rather than rest on our laurels, we must maintain our edge. We plan to build on our first-year results by continuing to enhance the product to make it an even better value proposition for our customers."

Image:
On the road to success - over 1000 Digimaster 9110 presses have already been installed by Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG. This has exceeded the company's target by more than 25 percent. The Digimaster is controlled by mean of a touchscreen and a browser-based user interface. Easily updateable software plug-ins can be used to extend the functionality of the overall system when upgrading is required.

For further information:
Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG
Corporate Communications
Thomas Fichtl
Tel.: +49 (0)6221 92 47 47
Fax: +49 (0)6221 92 50 69
E-mail: thomas.fichtl@heidelberg.com