The post pandemic business world landscape will look rather different to that which has prevailed for more than 30 years, though in reality change has been underway for some time. The very purpose of a company is changing.
For the last quarter of a century, this purpose has been to ensure the maximum return to its shareholders, almost by any means. This is now considered wasteful, short sighted and no longer in tune with the times. Shareholders remain important, but are no longer the driving factor.
Koenig & Bauer epitomises this change. On its 200th anniversary there was a change of name, of styling and a change in company purpose. Claus Bolza-Schünemann last year retired as CEO and was not succeeded by a family member. Instead an outsider arrived to head the company for the first time.
This CEO is Andreas Pleßke and he outlined the new strategy in a presentation to the financial community at the end of last year. The overarching aim remains to be the world’s leading provider of technology for printing and packaging within ten years, but with a greater awareness of sustainability and Koenig & Bauer’s contribution to society as a whole.
In 2013 there was shift to focus on three sectors, followed in 2017 by restructuring service into its own business category. That was followed by the P24 and P24X restructuring programmes intended to ensure that it had the right skills in the right place. And to help define those skills, it has been consulting with customers.
“The success of customers defines us,” Pleßke explains. It canvassed customers and their customers, particularly those in food packaging and finding the importance of sustainability. “It confirmed that this is the most important trend we face in the future.” This is not necessarily led by government legislation providing the sticks and carrots to encourage a shift in direction. Instead it is being led from the street.
The next generation is voting with its wallets against products that cause environmental damage or are not considered sustainable and in favour of those that are. The carbon impact is a huge part of this. Social media channels are hugely important in mobilising campaigns and influencing purchasing habits. The rapid growth of veganism is surely part of this movement. It has affected the financial markets too. Banks will be reluctant to finance companies that are not in line with this approach.
And he pointed out that some of the largest companies around, AirBnB, Tesla, HelloFresh – did not exist a few years ago. By 2030 a large number of customers that printers will be working for have not yet been formed, Pleßke added.
For a press manufacturer it means sustainability becomes part of its own activities – the company aims to cut carbon emissions by 75% for 2025 and to be carbon neutral in 2030 – and those of its customers by producing more effective machinery.
As well as reducing energy needs to run a press and dry what is printed, this comes through reduction in waste at start up or in running and reduction in the ink required. A press running on three shifts will us 8-9,000 tonnes of paper a year and 500 tonnes for ink. “If we can decrease the material consumption and ink by 5-10%, through better ink control or waste control, that’s a game changer,” he said.
“We see our role in future as the trusted adviser to our customers, helping to optimise job change speed if that is wanted, examining the benefits of digital or plate change speed. We can advise on the best solution for them because we are present with all the technologies.” It wants to cut its own carbon emissions by 75% by 2025, and to be carbon neutral by 2030.
And this means a change in emphasis from the cost of a press and the impact that brings to the cost of a printed sheet to a holistic approach covering the end to end process and overall cost of doing business. It has coined the term “Exceeding Print” to encapsulate this thinking. “It’s all about thinking beyond the printing process and beyond the printing machine. It includes digitisation and modularity in terms of machines and components.”
The trends have, said Pleßke, been accelerated by the pandemic, the most important of which has been the rise in ecommerce, from $1.5 trillion worldwide to $4.5 trillion. “And with the comfort of ordering online, it will not necessarily go back to where it was before,” he added. That has implications for Koenig & Bauer and its customers.
Koenig & Bauer is extending this into the people it employs, expanding its apprenticeships programmes, creating career programmes and creating a training school for software engineering. “We are putting a lot of effort into HR resources,” he said.
That is building for the future.
