Koenig & Bauer is undergoing a further reorganisation in a bid to kick start growth particularly in its inkjet product lines.
As a result the executive team has been reduced from five to two, CEO Andreas Pleßke and CFO. COO Michael Ulverich is leaving by mutual consent and is not being replaced.
However, the company has recruited Christian Steinmaßl from Heidelberg to take a key role in the newly formed special and new technologies segment. He is responsible for production, its vision and protection arm and the Kyana artificial intelligence business units. At Heidelberg Steinmaßl had been executive vice president in charge of packaging.
The shake up brings the Cellmacch Chroma flexo rotary die cutters into a newly formed Paper & Packaging sheetfed systems segment along with activities of Koenig & Bauer Durst, both the Varijet 106 sheetfed inkjet press and SPM 130 high speed inkjet corrugated press, are also in this grouping along with the core sheetfed litho operations, folder gluers and die cutters. There is a close technological and customer overlap between folding box board and corrugated cardboard producers says Koenig & Bauer.
The move will also allow the company to cover customer requirements from preprint to post print processing. “The group’s top priority is to align itself with its customers and markets and to streamline decision making paths within its business units,” says Pleßke.
The special and new technologies segment combines the activities of banknote and security printing, metal decorating, coding and glass printing along with webfed digital and web fed flexo printing. A new vision and protection unit is formed as a spin off from the security print operations. The new division will also house the joint project with Volkswagen to develop a powder coating method for battery cell production. Each of the segments will have its own management team with a high degree of autonomy which it is hoped will make the operations more responsive and able to react faster.
The reorganisation is not finished. Over the next year long standing members of the executive committee will be replaced as part of a generational transition to “candidates who constitute an excellent fit for the company’s strategic priorities”.
The company has found it difficult to achieve profits in what was the web and digital division. The fall off in revenue from heatset and newspaper presses has been faster than the growth of digital products. This has caused results to fall short of projects and to pressure from dissenting shareholders. However, financial analysts have remained broadly supportive with five setting a target of €16-18 per share and just one recommending a sell at €11 per share.
