Proteus Packaging Purchases First Heidelberg VLF Press in North America

KENNESAW, GA—July 14, 2008—Proteus Packaging has become the first U.S. company to purchase Heidelberg’s new Speedmaster XL 145 press — one of two very large format (VLF) press models Heidelberg unveiled at drupa 2008. The Franklin, Wis.-based folding carton producer chose the 6-color Speedmaster XL 145 press with inline aqueous coater to upgrade its pressroom and keep the company competitive in a challenging marketplace. The new machine will be the first VLF press from Heidelberg installed in North America.

Proteus expects to replace two older VLF presses with the XL 145, thanks to major gains in efficiency expected with the new press. “Our existing larger-format presses are 23 years old and just aren’t fast enough to meet today’s market demands,” said Tim Wayman, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Proteus. “We needed to upgrade our press equipment to stay current and position ourselves to capture new market opportunities, and Heidelberg will enable us to do this.”

Proteus’ pressmen will receive extensive training on their new technology at Heidelberg’s state-of-the-art PMDC facility in Kennesaw. “We were really impressed by how well Heidelberg’s people handle training,” Wayman said. “This provides a major advantage for our pressmen and the productivity of our shop overall.”

Heidelberg’s VLF presses are designed to meet the specific requirements of the folding carton and package printing sectors and deliver fast makereadies and high productivity on a broad range of substrates, all through a user-friendly and intuitive interface. After a visit to Heidelberg’s R&D facility in Wiesloch, Germany, where Proteus gained an in-depth look at the features and technology benefits of the XL 145, the company decided to go with Heidelberg.

Some of the innovations on the XL 145 that particularly impressed Proteus were:

• Prinect Inpress Control, which measures color and register in the quality control strip on the fly;