Product category:
Printing Presses and Machinery (New and Used, Service and Repair)
News Release from: Heidelberg
Edited by the Printingtalk Editorial
Team on 22 March 2006
Heidelberg's Restructure Boosts
Productivity
Heidelberg will restructure its HPP 2006 - High Performance Production - project as the Heidelberg Production System (HPS) this April.
Heidelberg will restructure its HPP 2006 - High Performance Production - project as the Heidelberg Production System (HPS) this April Principles and methods prepared in the HPP 2006 project will be brought together, consolidated and developed further in a fully integrated system, said the company
This article was originally published on Printingtalk on 6 Jun 2003 at 8.00am (UK)
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The aim of HPS is to make Heidelberg's German sites more competitive by standardising and constantly improving the production structures and processes.
This will enable them to respond faster to market challenges, boosting productivity, quality and adherence to deadlines, believes the company.
HPP 2006 was launched in 2003 and has now been completed.
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Production structures and processes at the Wiesloch, Amstetten, and Brandenburg sites have been analysed and improved in 12 major projects.
The long-term savings will run in to several tens of millions of Euros, added Heidelberg.
As well as optimising production, there are also plans to construct a new assembly hall at the Wiesloch site to produce the new large-format sheetfed presses.
Building will start in the first half of this year.
The new format class of press is intended to further strengthen Heidelberg's market position.
The production system will also be deployed in the company's large-format production operations.
The company has used the changes in the printing industry up to 2005 to reorganise its production structures for the future, it said.
The chief aim of HPP 2006 was to boost the company's competitiveness on the market, which was achieved by redesigning workflows and systems in production.
The foundations were laid to meet changing market and customer needs, such as shorter delivery times and special press configurations.
Processes were synchronised based on the 'pull principle'.
This has enabled greater focus to be placed on value-adding operations and reduces throughput times and material storage, added the company.
Dieter Stempnewicz, the manager of the Wiesloch site, said: "In the last three years, Heidelberg has succeeded in streamlining and modernising production considerably.
The healthy order books testify to the success of the project." HPP 2006 continually analysed and improved workflows at defined production stages along the value-adding chain, he added.
And he commented: "Each of the 12 sub-projects produced positive results.
For medium-format assembly (A2 format presses) a state-of-the-art factory was created that led to productivity rising by up to 10 per cent.
This also resulted in material storage times falling from 60 working days to 41, a reduction of approximately 30 per cent." HPP 2006 accounted for an investment volume of around nine million Euros.
HPP 2006 will be restructured as the Heidelberg Production System (HPS) in April.
The results of the individual sub-projects will be merged in to a fully integrated system.
Improvements that have already been made will be consolidated and a continuous improvement process put in place that will start generating further savings over the coming years, added the company.
Stephan Plenz, who is responsible for HPS and is the future manager of the Wiesloch site, explained: "To ensure long-term success, we need to keep our unit labour costs competitive on an international scale.
This requires productivity to be increased significantly year after year whilst maintaining consistently high quality." The launch of the Heidelberg production system, he added, will see the company deliver an effective response and lay the foundations for further success on the global market.
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