At Hunkeler Innovationdays 2025 in Lucerne, Switzerland, Heidelberg will present the world premiere of Fireline, its new semi-integrated finishing solution, and the Jetfire 50 sheetfed inkjet press in its official design. Designed to automate the digital production of Jetfire unveiled at Drupa 2024 fireline integrates into "an end-to-end digital ecosystem reducing manual intervention.
Stahlfolder TH 56 Fireline and TH 66 Fireline
Based on the Stahlfolder TH 56 and TH 66 folders, the Fireline, a semi-integrated (nearline) solution, handles converting operations in a single pass, combining cutting, creasing and folding without interruption. In this way, Heidelberg aims to offer a complete digital ecosystem, capable of reducing set-up times and improving the profitability of digital production.
David Schmedding, Director of Technology and Sales at Heidelberg, says: " In the context of industrial printing, highly automated finishing operations are essential to handle a large number of diverse orders while ensuring the profitability of digital production." It's a "an essential addition to the Heidelberg digital ecosystem".
The Stahlfolder TH 56 Fireline model is designed to work with the B3 format Jetfire 50 digital press, the first machines of which will be installed in Switzerland, while the Stahlfolder TH 66 Fireline will accompany the future B2 format Jetfire 75, scheduled for release later this year.
A wide range of finished products covered
The Fireline integrates with Heidelberg's Prinect workflow. This means it can be preset automatically on the basis of Prinect job parameters. In addition, standard presets cover a wide range of finished products, from A3 and A4 posters cut on all four sides for full-bleed designs, to four-page brochures and eight-page A6 products with accordion fold.
To minimize the number of system changes, Prinect groups similar jobs into batches, which are then processed one after the other on the Jetfire 50 and Stahlfolder TH 56/66 Fireline.
See you at Hunkeler Innovationdays 2025
Heidelberg will be exhibiting this digital printing and finishing solution in Hall 1, Stand P2, alongside Müller Martini, from February 24 to 27 in Lucerne. This will be an opportunity to see the Fireline and JetFire in action, and to talk to Heidelberg experts.
