Never before have companies been able to access so much data about their print shop, and never before has it been so important to utilize this data to boost competitiveness with efficient processes that make better use of capacity.


That is exactly what Digital Services from Heidelberg do, transforming big data into smart data that customers can leverage to optimize the way they run their print shop. Customers don’t need to collect the data themselves, or even process it – Heidelberg takes care of all that. The same applies to providing technologies such as business analytics that help harness the potential for improvement – without needing any IT know-how. Customers can access Digital Services around the clock via the online platform Heidelberg Assistant .

The second line of approach in Digital Services is availability. If the KPIs show, for instance, that the downtime on a machine is too high, Predictive Monitoring or Technical Availability can be used to reduce unplanned stoppages.

Digital Services from Heidelberg are being continuously expanded and their performance constantly improved. For example, Digital Training will also cover prepress and postpress in the future. Customers who take out Prinect Smart BI are provided with the KPIs and are also advised on how they could improve them. Predictive Monitoring, meanwhile, ensures faults can be identified even earlier and more comprehensively by monitoring customer machines in real time and returning refined analyses. “We don’t just want our customers to get better all the time, we also want to get better and better at supporting them, too,” comments Ibrahim Celik, Product Manager Performance Services at Heidelberg.

Performance Services

Using KPIs such as overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) and the net productivity of all machines gives customers oversight of the performance levels in their print shop at all times. They can identify problem areas early on and take action, either on their own or, if they wish, with support from Heidelberg. If customers use Online Advisement services, an expert will work with them either over the phone or via E-mail to analyze data and suggest specific measures for how the print shop can achieve their set objectives, whether cost savings or improvements in production, for example. Progress is checked every month and measures are adapted accordingly. Alternatively, customers can utilize Onsite Evaluation, when the adviser will inspect the production processes, the level of knowledge among operators and the overall performance of production over the course of a shift. Customers then receive an action plan they can put in place on their own or with support from Heidelberg Business Consulting as part of an implementation project.

Predictive Monitoring

Predictive Monitoring increases machine availability and cuts costs. Unlike conventional monitoring, which only allows print shops to react to incidents that have already happened, Predictive Monitoring uses data samples to forecast future failures even before a fault or unplanned downtime has occurred. Appropriate measures can then be put in place in advance, thereby ensuring production continues to run smoothly. This involves service experts monitoring the status of customer machines – including connected peripherals and color measuring equipment – around the clock.

A press will use sensors to send approximately 500 million items of data a year about its status to a big data analysis platform. If values deviate from a set normal range, the service expert is automatically notified. The specialist then analyzes the data and initiates any follow-up measures that may be required. This expert decides whether the issue can be resolved remotely or processed during the next planned service appointment, or whether it requires immediate onsite action.

Prinect Smart BI

Prinect Smart BI gives print shops valuable insight into all business processes, from the initial point of contact with the customer through to invoicing, so that the right decisions can be made to improve business success.

Prinect Smart BI gathers and processes business and production data to produce meaningful KPIs. As a result, the senior management, sales and production teams can study performance diagrams showing them the main developments in their area at a glance, whether sales quotas, productivity or capacity utilization. If there are any anomalies such as an increase in paper waste, they can access additional information with a single click, for example the amount of waste for each press, shift and operator and for different jobs. This gives them a means of identifying the underlying problem and developing appropriate solutions.

Prinect Smart BI also offers a way to identify and utilize business opportunities early on. For example, KPIs such as customers, prices, profit margins and products can be easily linked together and evaluated. This reveals which products, sectors and customers are profitable, which products could be used to push through higher prices and with which customers.

Digital Training

Digital Training makes the expertise of Heidelberg available online. This printing-specific know-how about applications and press operation can be accessed anytime, anywhere, so that product quality and productivity can be improved – at all sites and across various markets.

Experienced specialist staff can query the know-how they need to complete a specific task, whether making a nonroutine adjustment or carrying out nonstandard maintenance work on the press, for example. A video will then show them exactly what they need to do. Junior staff or staff stepping in from another area can use the practical training modules as a complement to face-to-face training from Heidelberg to further extend their skills. Using the multimedia training units, they can systematically build up or expand their know-how and skills relating to the core issues of printing materials, consumables, presses and procedures.

Technical Availability

This service helps print shops boost the technical availability of their press. As an add-on to Predictive Monitoring, it posts monthly KPIs in Heidelberg Assistant that show how long the press has been in operational mode and whether there were any unscheduled downtimes. Customers can seek the support of an expert via Online Advisement, who will leverage the technical data to produce recommendations on how to increase availability. Furthermore, there is also an option to contractually agree a guaranteed availability level. Heidelberg will then pledge that the customer will attain a specific degree of availability and put in place the necessary measures to achieve or surpass this target.

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