Leaving Rampage... Kodak or Heidelberg?

[ddunlow]

I am in the process of replacing my Rampage workflow. I have been a Rampage user since the late 90's, but I see it is time for a change. I have spent hours upon hours looking at workflows from Heidelberg and Kodak. Has anyone here gone through this research process? What made you choose Kodak over Heidelberg?

The two workflows seem very similar. I know these two companies were partners in the past. Are the workflows close enough that I should go with the company offering the best price and incentives?

[DCurry]

I know this doesn't quite answer your question directly, as I have no Heidelberg experience, but I recently transitioned my shop from Brisque & PS/M RIPs to Prinergy and have been very pleased so far. Not only is Prinergy a very well-thought-out and robust product, but the folks at Kodak were absolutely wonderful during the transition period. Excellent training and startup assistance was provided, with top-notch customer service every step of the way.

[eskopdl]

Sorry, but I could not let this go without at least adding this: Commercial Printing - EskoArtwork
Regards - peter

[Ritter]

I am a current Heidelberg user. I've used Creodak (When there was more of a blurry line between Creo and Kodak) and Agfa in the past. I prefer the Heidelberg workflow five fold to the other workflows I have used and investigated. I'm not a big fan of the way Kodak (and Creo in the past) tends to separate and departmentalize every application. If you have any specific questions about Heidelberg and want a non-marketing end-users perspective feel free to ask.

[UncleSam]

Call EskoArtwork to have a Demo for Odystar with Neo PDF editor, and compare them to Kodak as well as Heidelberg. You will be amazed how advance they are. I'm a happy customer.

[AdamZx3]

Pm sent on the Prinergy....

[mschroeder]

Heidelberg gets my vote. But I could do either. Look at the price. I think either one is customizable to fit most shops. Service and responsiveness is another thing to consider. Though I have hardly had any in the last 2 versions. Version 1 was a little bit rough.

[Predisposed]

Both are good... I have set up and used Apogee / Prinergy / Screen and Heidelberg systems and would limit it to either Prinergy or Heidelberg. Heidelberg probably has the edge if you have Heidelberg presses and finishing equipment and want to join the whole lot together by means of an MIS system, but for a purely Prepress workflow Prinergy is the best.. PS I would use Heidelbergs Signastation Imposition software for both, it is a much better option than Preps.
The only conceivable fly in the ointment at the moment is Kodak are in real financial difficulty, so there may be problems if things don't improve out there for them.
They will go down a lot further than you think on prices, but make sure you tie in a good service agreement ( 3 years ) with whichever you decide to go with.

[Julio]

Having used Heidelberg and Kodak rips I would go with Heidelberg. Where I am now currently uses Prinergy and its easy to use but support is very poor - finger pointing. Preps is ok but SignaStation is better. Printect is also easy to use and has much better support. Both have a lot of features to choose from. But at the end of the day when you are down, Heidelberg support will take care of you, while Kodak prinergy support will be there to finger point.

[Mark]

We are looking to replace our system too, so I have looked at Apogee, Prinect, and Prinegy and found them to be very similar. Match the system with your other equipment or see if you can do a plate/consumables tie in. But I think any of the three would work well.