Heidelberg says it has adopted a dual track approach to future success. One is expanding its position in the growing packaging sector, the second is expanding into new areas, typified by its emobility wallaby charging units. It will also include Zaikio and projects in printed electronics with others possible in future.
As yet the technology division is very much in an embryonic state and in the last financial year contributed just €21 million to group sales of €2.435 billion. Almost all this was generated by wallboxes, and almost all in Germany where the ending of support for electric vehicles led to a big drop in revenue for Heidelberg’s investment from €51 million. The company plans a wider roll out of the changing points, but will need a big effort for this to become a major source of growth income in the immediate to mid term.
It has had better fortune with packaging where sales are rising faster than sales of conventional machines. In Europe in the 2022/23 financial year, sales from packaging rose to €389 million (€269 million) while from commercial presses the increase was from €511 million to €550 million. Sales of both fell in China, though packaging by a tiny amount, while commercial fell more than 20%.
Packaging in all its guises is reckoned to be increasing around the world for mainly demographic factors of urbanisation, more prosperous middle class and so on. This has led to development of the Boardmaster flexo press for carton and to the Gallus One, a standalone digital press for label printing. Additions to this portfolio are likely as the company says it wants to expand its presence on digital printing.
It partners with Ricoh, supplier of the Versafire engine in commercial print, to which extra functionality has been applied via the DFE. But there is limited scope for Heidelberg to expand its digital presence in commercial print despite what it recognises is growth in digital at the expense of litho printing. Ricoh has new toner machines coming as well as the B2 inkjet press, which Heidelberg knows all about.
Packaging is more fruitful for digital expansion. ”The company is looking to build on its position in this market with Gallus One, the first digital and highly automated label printing system,” the company says. It has released a 21,000sph version of the Speedmaster XL106 and delivered a press with 20 printing and coating units and measuring 42 metres long to a major, though unidentified, packaging group
In the coming year there will be further price rises to compensate for higher raw material costs and wage rises. There will also be preparedness to seize opportunities and take action. In the annual report CEO Ludwin Monz says: “Change is not a passing fad, rather it is becoming part of our necessary day to day work. So we have to ensure a solid financial footing and act both strategically and proactively.”
