Heidelberger Druckmaschinen – Customers save thousands of litres of gear oil

Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG has been a reliable and innovative partner for the global printing industry for over 160 years. Reducing spoilage, waste, energy consumption and emissions to a minimum brings commercial success for the leaders in technology and their customers alike. They produce eco-friendly printing products based on the motto:

'business thinking, eco-friendly printing'.

his is the approach across all areas of the company. The 'Oil analysis before maintenance/inspection' project exemplifies this. In conjunction with the introduction of extended oil change intervals, OELCHECK lubricant analyses have been carried out on hundreds of the company's oil-lubricated sheet offset printing presses since 2015.

The result – oil service life has been significantly extended for 73% of these printing presses! A real boon for customers and the environment.

Oil analysis before maintenance/inspection – the processes are perfectly thought-out:

around three to four weeks before the upcoming maintenance/inspection of a printing press, Heidelberg's SystemService staff contact the customer. A date is set and the customer is informed that they will be sent an OELCHECK all-inclusive analysis kit in advance.
OELCHECK is commissioned by the Heidelberg SystemService staff via e-mail to dispatch the appropriate analysis kit to the Heidelberg customer, including a letter, an illustrated guide on proper sampling and a copy of a Sample Information Form, which is mostly already filled in.
OELCHECK immediately springs into action. The 100 ml sample ottle including all documents stated above, a leak-proof plastic envelope and a UPS returns label makes its way to the customer.
Now they have everything they need, the customer takes the required oil sample from their printing press and adds operating hours, oil type, quantity, date and other remarks to the Sample Information Form.

They then send the sample and information form straight to the OELCHECK laboratory in Brannenburg free of charge with UPS.

The oil analysis is carried out the day the sample is received. The next day, the Heidelberg SystemService staff receive the OELCHECK laboratory report with comments via e-mail.
Heidelberg SystemService staff check the values detected and the comments from the OELCHECK tribologist responsible and draw relevant conclusions. The data and observation of a trend allows Heidelberg SystemService technicians to prepare themselves as well as possible for their work with the customer. The latter is informed accordingly of the upcoming measures and how long they will last. The customer can initiate any necessary orders for oil in good time.
If an oil change is required, the new oil is therefore already available when the Heidelberg SystemService technician visits and can be changed during the maintenance/inspection works.

Business thinking, eco-friendly printing

A CLP 150-type mineral oil-based industrial gear oil is usually used to lubricate printing presses. Depending on the type of press and number of print works, between 50 and 150 litres of gear oil are required.

If the oil was previously usually changed every year in the Heidelberg printing presses, it can now mostly be used for much longer thanks to the oil analyses. The customers' feedback is entirely positive. In some companies, costs for procuring and disposing of lubricants decreased dramatically, as did maintenance outlay. In total, the Heidelberg customers save the environment from several thousand litres of lubricating oil each year with the help of the state-based extended oil change intervals.

The benefits of OELCHECK lubricant analyses

Since Heidelberg had had good experiences in Germany with the lubricant analyses from OELCHECK for many years, and with the 'Oil analysis before maintenance/inspection' project since 2015, the partnership between the companies was also trialled in France and the UK. Following extremely positive feedback from customers, Heidelberg has used the lubricant analyses carried out at OELCHECK in Germany since 2016 across the board in all machine types with circulating oil lubrication.

Accordingly, Heidelberg business units operating abroad now also enjoy the benefits of OELCHECK lubricant analyses:

Consistently high quality of analyses
Clearly defined processes and analysis methods with globally uniform limits and warning values
Well-thought-out and practical analysis kits for sampling and dispatch
Collecting and returning samples with UPS
Uniform Sample Information Forms
Targeted diagnoses by OELCHECK tribologists for measures during maintenance such as an oil change

Thanks to the 'Oil analysis before maintenance/inspection' project and the partnership with OELCHECK, Heidelberg has been able to improve the service it offers its customers significantly!

Heidelberger Druckmaschinen Efficiency at the touch of a button

Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG is a market and technology leader in the printing industry, known for its sheet offset printing presses and solutions for the print media and packaging industry. User-friendly systems, custom products and innovative services ensure the highest degree of product quality, streamline the management of complex processes and help to avoid errors – throughout the production chain.

The result: efficiency at the touch of a button. A total of around 11,500 staff, together with sales partners at 250 locations in 170 countries worldwide, ensure customers' wishes are implemented and constant development on the market. In the financial year 2016/2017, group sales were an impressive €2.5 billion.