Jurgen Otto is, from his record, a fast worker. Since leaving the company he worked for for 25 years, and as CEO for the last 12, he has had four jobs leading businesses that needed some care and attention. But none has lasted more than two years. He has no direct print experience, but Heidelberg’s chairman Martin Sonnenschein likes the idea of bringing in ideas from outside, so that should not count against the new CEO. The question is what is the remit? It may be to continue the seemingly endless reorganisations and cost cutting in search of a profit as seems to have been the task for predecessors Rainer Hundsdorfer and Ludwin Monz. Or is it to find a way to grow Heidelberg within the printing industry.
For there is growth out there, albeit not so much in Europe or the US but in Asia and perhaps in the longer term in Africa, where expanding middle classes will consume the advertising messages that come with excess cash to spend and particularly the packaged foods that come with urbanisation. It is good therefore to see that a sales director has joined the main board. This suggests that increasing sales rather than financial engineering to squeeze a profit is now a priority. Good. That’s not so good if it means further focus on the major groups with the ability to order multiple machines at a time. There’s a decision driven by the data and the ROIs and by reducing their costs.
Heidelberg should remember that for many many printers owning a press made in Wiesloch remains an aspiration. They have grown up with the Heidelberg name as it moved from platens to GTOs and up the sheet formats to B1 and, for a short while, beyond. This is Heidelberg’s heartland: independent commercial and carton printers that do business through long cherished relationships. This is what built Heidelberg and if the technology needs of these customers have changed, Heidelberg needs to adjust accordingly. Good luck Jurgen Otto and we hope that as with the Jurgen who is stepping down from Liverpool FC, you have the time to turn the ship.
Getting to the roots of the problem
Jurgen Otto is, from his record, a fast worker. Since leaving the company he worked for for 25 years, and as CEO for the last 12, he has had four jobs leading businesses that needed some care and attention. But none has lasted more than two years. He has no direct print experience, but Heidelberg’s chairman Martin Sonnenschein likes the idea of bringing in ideas from outside, so that should not count against the new CEO. The question is what is the remit? It may be to continue the seemingly endless reorganisations and cost cutting in search of a profit as seems to have been the task for predecessors Rainer Hundsdorfer and Ludwin Monz. Or is it to find a way to grow Heidelberg within the printing industry.
For there is growth out there, albeit not so much in Europe or the US but in Asia and perhaps in the longer term in Africa, where expanding middle classes will consume the advertising messages that come with excess cash to spend and particularly the packaged foods that come with urbanisation. It is good therefore to see that a sales director has joined the main board. This suggests that increasing sales rather than financial engineering to squeeze a profit is now a priority. Good. That’s not so good if it means further focus on the major groups with the ability to order multiple machines at a time. There’s a decision driven by the data and the ROIs and by reducing their costs.
Heidelberg should remember that for many many printers owning a press made in Wiesloch remains an aspiration. They have grown up with the Heidelberg name as it moved from platens to GTOs and up the sheet formats to B1 and, for a short while, beyond. This is Heidelberg’s heartland: independent commercial and carton printers that do business through long cherished relationships. This is what built Heidelberg and if the technology needs of these customers have changed, Heidelberg needs to adjust accordingly. Good luck Jurgen Otto and we hope that as with the Jurgen who is stepping down from Liverpool FC, you have the time to turn the ship.
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Prayers for the future of the print industry