Three years after its launch, the Heidelberg Customer Portal has become a daily operational tool for many printers. According to data provided by the German group, more than 7,000 users in 3,000 printing plants use this cloud platform on a daily basis to manage production, maintenance and logistics. (In France, this tool was officially launched in March 2024.)
The system's logic is based on the combination of several specialized applications. Maintenance Manager, Inventory Management and Print Shop Analytics are among the most widely used. The 15 modules available are designed to collect, process and display in real time the data required for press and shop management, with the aim of improving workflows, reducing downtime and optimizing inventories.
The portal's current functionalities are closely linked to the Prinect workflow, which is already well established among Heidelberg press users. This technical foundation enables direct integration of production and management data, seamlessly linking prepress, printing and finishing stages.
Among the latest developments, the Data Capture App automates data transmission between planning tools and operator workstations, displaying the progress of production orders and analyzing actual costs per job.
Marco Rassfeld, head of prepress and CTP at German printer Meinders & Elstermann, who tested the application as a preview, talks to the manufacturer: "Data Capture App is intuitive and simplifies operations considerably compared with the previous method. It saves time, provides access to a centralized data source and makes optimum use of all available production slots."
In addition to production functions, the Heidelberg Customer Portal now enables printers to purchase consumables and spare parts in just a few clicks. Heidelberg sees this centralization as a significant time-saver, particularly for medium-sized companies or those without a dedicated purchasing department.
"The Heidelberg Customer Portal represents a major step in the digitalization of customer relations, and is simultaneously a strategic tool for optimizing processes and mastering complex print workflows. Our Prinect Workflow solution is the cornerstone", explains David Schmedding, Technical and Sales Director at Heidelberg. "In short, the customer portal simply simplifies our customers' work".
Heidelberg announces that the development of the customer portal is far from complete. The declared ambition is to build a digital infrastructure capable of supporting virtually autonomous production workshops in the long term.
