Prinect User Days 2026 Highlights AI’s Potential in Print
New fully automated AI workflow Prinect Touch Free installed at pilot customers in Germany, Poland, and Switzerland; AI chatbot for Customer Portal unveiled; record number of visitors, with over 400 international participants
Just like other sectors, the printing industry can’t escape the global megatrend that is artificial intelligence – nor does it want to. It therefore comes as little surprise that the possibilities and challenges of this new technology took centre stage at Prinect User Days 2026, which set a new visitor record with well over 400 international participants. The keynotes, presentations, and workshops by software and AI experts focused on automating processes in response to continuing cost pressures, the skills shortage, and an increasingly fragmented job structure. With artificial intelligence destined to play a key role in the future, the event was an the ideal opportunity for Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (HEIDELBERG) to announce the first rollouts of Prinect Touch Free – the new AI-driven workflow unveiled by the company at drupa 2024 – in Germany (Meinders & Elstermann), Poland (CGS drukarnia), and Switzerland (Schmid-Fehr AG). All three users have a hybrid production environment that combines offset and digital printing solutions from HEIDELBERG. Prinect Touch Free controls print production on a fully automated basis, deciding on the most efficient and cost-effective output channel for the relevant print jobs based on the actual PDFs.
HEIDELBERG Product Manager Digital Workflow Axel Zöller explains why this is so useful: “The number of web-to-print jobs our customers are receiving has increased by more than 60 percent worldwide over the past year. Conventional, manual methods can no longer handle this volume of jobs cost-effectively. An ‘automation offensive’ is what’s needed! Prinect Touch Free is what’s needed!”
Output in Just 90 Minutes
The pilot customer Meinders & Elstermann started working with Prinect Touch Free at the beginning of December 2025. Volker Havel, a member of the company’s senior management team, describes how work to connect the Jetfire 50 digital printing system started at 8:30 am on 9 December and the first jobs were output just 90 minutes later as part of a test production run. “Our primary objective was for automation to bring a sense of calm to the digital printing process, which has a highly fragmented job structure,” he explains.
HEIDELBERG Unveils New AI Chatbot for Customer Portal
HEIDELBERG also unveiled a new AI chatbot for its Customer Portal, which will soon go live for all portal users, who now number more than 9,000. In the initial phase, the tool will help in answering queries about Prinect Production and the apps available within the portal, eliminating the need for users to search for answers in Prinect Online Helps. Following the subsequent addition of a data chat function for data-based inquiries, the chatbot will also be able to answer questions relating to machine documentation and operation. In the future, HEIDELBERG is also intending to equip its service ticket app with an assistant to help customers create tickets and include as much relevant information as possible to make services even faster and provide more information about customer requirements. “The HEIDELBERG chatbot combines validated knowledge from Prinect and the HEIDELBERG Customer Portal in one smart assistant. Customers will be given context-related answers directly in the portal, while service teams will also be able to access in-house expertise – worldwide and round the clock. This will result in faster problem-solving, enhanced user-friendliness, and international know-how sharing,” says Jürgen Grimm, Head of Prinect at HEIDELBERG.
Visitor Record for Prinect User Days 2026
With more than 400 participants attending the two-day programme – in the city of Heidelberg and at the Home of Print in Wiesloch-Walldorf – Prinect User Days 2026 beat last year’s attendance record by some margin and set a further record in the event’s long-standing history. “The Prinect User Days are, without question, a success story. The further rise in popularity demonstrated by the number of participants underlines the necessity and potential of this practical event that provides plenty of scope for dialogue, knowledge transfer, and networking,” emphasises Grimm.
