中文HEIDELBERG celebrated the grand opening of its new Print Media Center Americas, Home of Print, in Marietta, Georgia, on October 8, establishing a North American headquarters, demonstration centre and training facility in one purpose-built location. More than 200 customers, industry partners, trade media representatives and employees attended the two-day celebration, which showcased the company’s strategy of connecting offset, digital printing, finishing and workflow automation under a single connected production environment.
Visitors saw live demonstrations of the Jetfire 50 and the Speedmaster XL 106, explored HEIDELBERG’s broader technology portfolio, and toured the facility’s service, operations and training areas. The new training centre includes press modules, a fully operational Speedmaster XL 106 and finishing equipment to support operator education, maintenance instruction and the company’s apprenticeship program. Instructor-led training is scheduled to begin this fall, signalling that the site is as much about building skilled users as displaying machinery.
Clarence Penge, President of HEIDELBERG USA, described the facility as an investment in collaboration — bringing technology, expertise and customer support together so printers can improve productivity and develop new business opportunities. That framing reflects a wider vendor shift: the sale is no longer the press alone but the surrounding ecosystem of training, service and workflow that determines whether a customer actually succeeds.
The opening also hosted a customer panel examining how technology investments and operational changes are reshaping businesses. Jim Singer of Brodnax Printing Company, Mark Glendenning of Inland Label & Marketing Services, Mark Mills of Spectrum Packaging Corporation and Adam LeFebvre of Specialty Print Group discussed automation, workforce development, production efficiency and long-term technology partnerships. Mills described how a Speedmaster XL 106 helped Spectrum Packaging advance into packaging production, supported by HEIDELBERG performance services and technical expertise — a concrete example of equipment paired with operational support driving a business transition.
The headline commercial announcement was confirmation of HEIDELBERG’s first Jetfire 50 orders in North America. CJ Graphics of Mississauga, Ontario became the region’s first customer, while Lake County Press of Waukegan, Illinois purchased the first Jetfire 50 sold in the United States. CJ Graphics President Jay Mandarino cited print quality, Prinect workflow integration and HEIDELBERG service capabilities as key factors in the investment.
The Jetfire 50 represents HEIDELBERG’s expansion into industrial digital inkjet, complementing its established offset portfolio. By combining Jetfire technology with Speedmaster offset production and Prinect workflow automation, the company positions a connected environment that supports shorter runs, personalization, faster turnaround and more flexible manufacturing. For printers balancing long-run offset economics with growing demand for versioned, quick-turn work, that combination is the strategic pitch.
The new Home of Print gives North American customers a permanent place to evaluate those technologies together and to develop improvement strategies for their own operations — rather than seeing isolated demos at a trade show. In a market where labour shortages and the need for faster, more flexible output are pressing, a facility built around training and connected production is a meaningful competitive tool for the vendor and its customers alike.
The strategic weight of the Marietta opening should not be understated. For years, HEIDELBERG’s digital ambitions were met with skepticism from converters loyal to its offset heritage. A permanent, hands-on demonstration and training campus in North America signals a long-term commitment that press launches alone could never convey, and it gives cautious buyers a low-risk environment to validate the connected workflow.
The first Jetfire 50 orders also validate a key thesis: that digital inkjet and offset are not enemies but complements. Printers are not being asked to choose; they are being offered a system where each technology does what it does best, orchestrated by Prinect. That message, delivered credibly from a working facility, is far more persuasive than a slide deck.
It is worth noting what the Marietta investment does not do: it does not abandon offset. On the contrary, the Speedmaster XL 106 remains central to the story, demonstrating HEIDELBERG’s bet that the future is hybrid — offset for long, efficient runs and inkjet for short, versioned, fast-turn work, unified by Prinect. That hybrid narrative is increasingly the realistic path for commercial and packaging printers, most of whom cannot justify discarding installed offset capacity.
For the wider market, the opening also functions as a confidence play. A major vendor putting permanent physical roots in a region signals commitment at a time when print businesses are cautious about capital. The training campus, in particular, addresses the people problem that no amount of automation fully solves, and it gives HEIDELBERG a direct channel to shape how the next generation of operators learns its ecosystem.
Ultimately, the Marietta opening is a bet on the connected print business as the unit of value. HEIDELBERG is no longer primarily selling iron; it is selling the productivity, uptime and new-business capability that emerge when offset, digital, finishing and workflow are designed as one system. That reframing aligns the vendor’s incentives with the customer’s outcomes, which is the foundation of durable partnerships.
For print owners, the practical takeaway is to evaluate technology as a system, not a shopping list. The Jetfire 50 is compelling, but its real value only materializes when it sits inside a Prinect-orchestrated environment alongside offset and finishing. The Home of Print exists precisely so customers can experience that integration before they commit — and the first North American orders suggest the message is landing.
