"Design Your Car" - Heidelberg at IAA 2017: Technology Partner for the Automotive Industry

"The automobile of the future is networked and increasingly tailored to the customer in every respect. That is why we seek out partners whose technology can be integrated into our digitized production processes, thereby enabling us to also meet individual customer requirements," says Günter Ritzi, Managing Director of Ritzi Lackiertechnik GmbH (http://www.ritzi-lackiertechnik.de).

     (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/557461/Heidelberger_Unleash_Colour_Dashboard.jpg )

     (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/557462/Heidelberger_Unleash_Colour_Machine.jpg )

To this end, Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) will be presenting as a technology partner for the automotive industry at IAA 2017, taking place until 24 September in Frankfurt. Using the company's digital solutions as part of industrial production, distinctive applications like speedometer bezels, ventilation nozzles, alloy rims, and so on can be custom decorated or embellished for automotive customers.

Live at the Mercedes-Benz stand: "unleash the colour" - custom trims for smart cars, produced using the Omnifire 4D printing system  

Already today, almost no two smart cars are the same. With "unleash the colour", smart is giving an outlook on other forms of personalization. Visitors to the IAA will get to experience how digitization and new printing technologies are providing a quick and easy way of realizing individual designs in small-scale production or as individual items using the example of the interior.

The process is digitized throughout - from the first individual design draft to the finished personalized trim. First, customers can design selected trim components for the interior (ventilation nozzles, instrument bezels, and multi-media interface trim) with their own motifs in a configurator app. The overall design can be immediately viewed on the tablet and in virtual reality (VR). Then the design is optimized for printing and printed in color as well as with haptic effects on the surfaces of the real components. This is made possible by new digital solutions from Heidelberg, which are integrated into the digitized production process.

The Heidelberg Omnifire 250 4D printing system used for this is right next to the smart stand in the Mercedes FabLab (level 1) in the Festhalle arena. Here, visitors can see the trim components being printed live, and learn about Heidelberg's 4D printing technology.

Personalized decoration of alloy rims  

BORBET (http://www.borbet.de, hall 4, stand CO8), a manufacturer of alloy wheels, is demonstrating at IAA how lightweight construction and surface finishing using printing, paints, and coatings are shaping the future of the wheel. The company is presenting alloy wheels finished using Omnifire technology, which, unlike other methods, also enables complex color gradients. With this technology, Borbet is responding to the wishes of the market for smaller batch sizes and greater personalization of rims.

Supplier Ritzi Lackiertechnik producing custom-decorated car parts 

Heidelberg secured automotive supplier Ritzi Lackiertechnik GmbH as the pilot user of the Omnifire 1000. Ritzi specializes in innovative surface finishes for high-quality components such as speedometer bezels, trim strips, switches, dashboards, and other finished components for various automotive manufacturers. For this, the company uses different methods and technologies. Ritzi will integrate the Omnifire 1000 into its industrial production process to personalize and thus enhance both series parts, for example for "unleash the colour", and after-sales parts with a variety of colored patterns.

"We spent a long time searching for a solution that would allow us to meet the exacting requirements of our customers for custom decoration of passenger compartment accessories in an efficient way in terms of quality, flexibility, and cost. In Heidelberg we have found a partner that can supply us with an attractive overall package of innovative technology and matching service with the Omnifire 1000 ," says Günter Ritzi.

"At IAA 2017 we are presenting ourselves as a technology provider for the automotive industry and showcasing the personalized future. The enhancement of digital printing for integration into industrial processes is opening up new growth markets for us. We have the expertise and technologies to design the personalized world, and support customers from a wide range of industries in establishing their digital business models," says Dr. Ulrich Hermann, Board Member and Chief Digital Officer at Heidelberg.

Heidelberg Omnifire 1000 and 250 print objects of almost any shape and made from a variety of materials 

The possibility of customizing high-quality mass-produced items and as a result addressing consumers and customers in a very personal way opens up attractive and new digital business models in the automotive industry and many other industries. This is made possible by 4D printing technology from Heidelberg: the Omnifire 1000 and 250 systems can be used for custom or personalized printing and decoration of three-dimensional objects of almost every shape and made from a wide variety of materials, for example balls, bottles, hockey sticks, car and plane parts, even entire planes. The system can be integrated into practically any digitized production process. Heidelberg presented the technology for the first time at InPrint 2015 in Munich and since then has been continuously enhancing the Inkjet system for industrial use.

Heidelberg driving digitization and further expanding its digital printing portfolio 

With its presentation of 4D printing technology at the IAA in Frankfurt, Heidelberg is underlining the success of its digital transformation in keeping with its announced "Heidelberg goes Digital" strategy. Heidelberg is also gradually expanding the portfolio. Heidelberg already made the digitization of the industry and digital printing the focus of its trade fair presence at drupa 2016 with the presentation of the Smart Print Shop. With the Heidelberg Primefire 106 shown there, the company presented the first digital printing system for customized production of printing applications in 70x100 format in cooperation with its development partner, Fujifilm.

Video on Omnifire technology: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fWUWa1xg0M

Image material as well as further information about the company can be found in the Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG press portal at http://www.heidelberg.com.

For more information:

Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG
Group Communications
Matthias Hartung
Phone: +49(0)6222 82-67174
Fax: +49(0)6222 82-9967972
E-mail: matthias.Hartung@heidelberg.com