Heidelberg on digital journey along equipment lifecycle

Posted on 13 Dec 2017 by Jonny Williamson

Offset printing press manufacturer, Heidelberg, has expanded its range of digital services enabling customers to operate their print shops more smartly and efficiently.

Heidelberg expands its digital journey and enables customers to operate their print shops smartly and efficiently – image courtesy of Heidelberg.

The Heidelberg Assistant has been designed to give users a complete overview of the service and maintenance status of their print shop, including data-based failure prediction.

Users also get access to the biggest knowledge base in the industry, benefiting from new performance services that enable them to maximise the potential of their entire value chain.

Access to big data performance analytics also offers further potential for boosting productivity. The Assistant will enable Heidelberg to further scale its existing big data applications such as predictive monitoring and performance consulting in the market.

Users get secure and personal access which allows them to call up all information such as the status or productivity of their presses or services availed of in their company, anytime, anywhere, as well as software updates, predictive maintenance messages or contract management and an invoice overview.

The Assistant was reportedly developed in cooperation with 30 pilot customers, whose workflows were intensively analysed to optimally support the various tasks of the customer’s employees.

Furthermore, the results, ideas, and suggestions from more than 400 international customer surveys were incorporated into the development of the platform.

The extensive data analysis from the globally installed and networked base of machines and software could enable Heidelberg to develop new digital business models.

All in all, customers and Heidelberg benefit from the evaluation of a database of more than 10,000 connected machine systems and over 15,000 software systems.

Based on this, an offer consisting of equipment, software, consumables, and service tailored to the exact needs of the customer and its entire value chain can be created.

The lessons learned from this are expected to form the basis for the development of Heidelberg’s new digital business models and speed up the digital transformation of the company.