Heidelberg has launched a new highly-automated SX version of its Speedmaster 102, as the venerable and popular press nears its 50th year of sales.

The original 102 was launched in 1975 and Heidelberg said it had sold “well over” 100,000 printing and coating units of the model over the intervening 47 years. 

The new, next-generation Speedmaster SX 102 press takes advantage of some of the Push to Stop automation features using artificial intelligence originally developed for the top-of-the-range XL model. 

It's also available in a smaller SX 92 format of 650mm x 940mm, which Heidelberg said could cut plate costs by up to 20% but retained the same inking power. 

The press is highly configurable in terms of the options available for users, all the way up to full on Push to Stop for autonomous printing. 

Heidelberg head of product management Stefan Hasenzahl said Heidelberg was “once again emphasising our technology leadership” with the new, scalable model. 

The SX 102 also features a new ergonomic design that includes some details first seen on the XL.

Heidelberg UK product executive for sheetfed and digital 

Matt Rockley said there was already interest in the new model from UK customers, in particular for eight-colour configurations. 

The SX 102 can also run with Heidelberg’s fourth-generation CutStar reel-to-sheet system, which works with thinner papers such as those used for in-mould labelling. 

“The previous model would have run at 13,000sph in perfecting mode, the SX runs at 14,000 in perfect, which gets it close to XL speeds,” Rockley noted. 

“The main advantages with it are the automation. The operator can hang the plates on the guards of the machine and then the rest of it is fully autonomous.”

Rockley highlighted a number of key features, such as the ability for the press itself to automatically turn on the good sheet counter exactly as printed output reached the customer’s defined quality standard, with automatic tab insertion. 

The AI-driven Wash Assistant feature also has the potential to deliver substantial efficiency gains, Rockley noted. 

Rather than opting for a standard wash programme that might take three minutes, Wash Assistant will automatically calculate the washup time based on the actual ink coverage from the job’s pre-press file, the type of paper used, and the print run.

“It will calculate the fastest and most efficient wash time and that might save two minutes,” Rockley explained. 

“If, for example, a magazine printer might do around 11,000 makereadies a year. A saving of two minutes per makeready would be a saving of 360 hours, and that’s considerable when you consider a typical working week.”

The Speedmaster SX 102 is available immediately, and is targeted at users producing around 1m impressions per week. 

Rockley said that pricing would depend on specific configurations. 

Heidelberg is running a live online demo and Q&A session for the SX 102 later this month, on 28 September. More information and registration details here. 

Separately, Heidelberg has started its 2022/23 training year with around 100 young people beginning their training/dual study programme at Heidelberg's campus at Wiesloch-Walldorf in Germany at the beginning of this month. 

It has also added a new IT specialist training option of “Data and process analysis”.

128 new trainees have joined the group's German operations this year.