Single Site for Digital Work

Germany-based Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG plans to consolidate its worldwide digital printing operations under one roof in Rochester, N.Y.

Production and assembly of the company's NexPress 2100 digital color production press will be migrated from the Kiel, Germany site to the Rochester-area Digital Solution Headquarters sometime this year.

Also, digital finishing equipment operations previously handled at other sites in Germany will move to Rochester, joining the current manufacturing base for high-volume black-and-white digital presses that has been in place there since 1999.

"We recognized that the most advantageous solution is amassing digital manufacturing in one location," says Wolfgang Pfizenmaier, president of Heidelberg Digital LLC. "Rochester is a natural choice because it is the capital of the digital imaging world."

Heidelberg plans to expand manufacturing operations as the move takes place while simultaneously reducing the work force in Rochester, which amounted to some 775 individuals at the end of last year, by 150 positions. It plans to offer voluntary retirement packages to all employees.

The company anticipates that its work force will rise to the level of 775 again or grow in size once the reallocation of resources is completed by the end of 2003.