New Print Media Academy Training Center in Eppelheim Up and Running

• Over 8,000 participants attend around 800 courses in first six months
• Largest Heidelberg training center for customers and staff

Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) is delighted about the successful start made by its "Educ@te Center" in Eppelheim near Heidelberg, which officially opened in July 2007. Some 8,000 participants have already attended the training courses on offer this year. "The encouraging response from customers and staff to our wide-ranging training program at the Educ@te Center underlines the demand for professional basic and advanced training courses in the print media industry," states Bernd Schopp, Head of the Print Media Academy (PMA), commenting on the initial success of the Educ@te Center.

The PMA training center offers customers and staff throughout the world extensive practical and theoretical training activities in offset printing. The latest developments in printing technology are communicated in a clear and practical manner. Training courses on presses and seminars for "Prinect" prepress software are based on the very latest standards. "The practical training courses on state-of-the-art technologies are proving particularly popular. Participants completing these courses should be able to use the entire range of functions offered by our solutions," continues Schopp.

Each course is scheduled to last five to ten days, and around 20 courses are held simultaneously each week. Heidelberg employs 140 certified trainers, all of them experienced experts with comprehensive practical know-how. The eight-week basic training course "Educ@te", which provides essential know-how for Heidelberg service staff, is also held at the Eppelheim training center. This training program is part of a high-quality, integrated training concept at Heidelberg. "'Educ@te' is a genuine seal of quality in training for Heidelberg and our customer training courses also meet its high standards. That is why it was chosen as the name of the training center," explains Schopp.

The training center covers some 8,500 square meters. Including ancillary areas, the site extends to 10,000 square meters in total, with 34 rooms for press and software training. More than 20 presses are currently installed in three halls, each equipped with the latest technology. It is the largest collection of Heidelberg presses for training purposes anywhere in the world. The range of machines extends from a simple press for printing letterheads to a ten-color press that can be used, for example, to print high-finish perfume packaging or artwork. Heidelberg staff are also already being trained in the use of new presses that will be unveiled at the drupa trade show next year. The former print shop meets the high construction standards required to accommodate a large number of presses weighing several tons, i.e. in terms of structural analysis, service lifts, and supply lines.

Print Media Academy
The Print Media Academy of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG offers technical and management staff in the print media industry a comprehensive range of training courses tailored to meet industry requirements. The Print Media Academy portfolio comprises not only one-off seminars but also international management programs, advanced training, specialist congresses, and publications.

The Print Media Academy in Heidelberg is also the hub of a global network currently extending across 17 locations in 14 countries. The network is growing all the time. The 17th Print Media Academy opened its doors in Prague in the fall of 2007. Each year, around 17,000 technical and management staff from the print media industry take part in courses offered by the worldwide Print Media Academy network. The know-how center in Heidelberg can boast a total of more than 50,000 visitors each year.

Further information about Heidelberg can be found online at www.heidelberg.com.

For further information:
Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG
Corporate Communications
Matthias Hartung
Tel.: +49 (0)6221 92 50 77
Fax: +49 (0)6221 92 50 69
E-mail: matthias.hartung@heidelberg.com