Italian printing company targeting sustainable growth in the pharmaceuticals business

Grafiche Pizzi is a long-established Italian company based in Milan, which specializes in printed products for the pharmaceutical industry. In the last four years alone, it has invested more than fifteen million euros in Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) solutions as a way of targeting sustainable growth in the pharmaceuticals business, in both the press and postpress segments. The latest addition is a new Speedmaster XL 106 two-color press with perfecting, equipped with the 400th CutStar roll sheeter.

“We took over the company in 2013, and our mission is sustainable growth,” explains Managing Director Paola Pantaleoni. The new Speedmaster XL 106 features the company’s third CutStar, and joins a Speedmaster XL 106-6+L and Speedmaster XL 106-4-P in the pressroom. These two presses are also equipped with a CutStar, and have been in use since spring 2019.

“The biggest benefit CutStar offers us is the high level of flexibility when using lower paper grammages than in the past. We now process lightweight papers with 32 g/m2 compared with the 40-70 g/m2 paper normally used. Another plus point is the ability to optimize paper consumption by trimming the paper to the necessary formats, which reduces waste,” says Paola Pantaleoni. “The new Speedmaster, which prints at a speed of 18,000 sheets per hour and is equipped with CutStar, and the connection to prepress with the Prinect workflow and Polar cutting systems have significantly increased our production capacity.”

The company established in 1911 has operated exclusively in the pharmaceuticals segment for over 50 years, producing packaging inserts, brochures, and folding cartons. In 2013, it extended its production area of 3,000 square meters to over 10,000 square meters. Today, the 110-strong workforce produces 800 million inserts, five million brochures, and 100 million cartons each year. Grafiche Pizzi’s main markets are Italy, Switzerland, France, and Germany. Its turnover last year was over 22 million euros.