World Market Leader Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG Once Again on Course for Success
05/18/2000
Strategic orientation as solution provider for drupa 2000
Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) is approaching the world's largest trade fair for print and paper, drupa 2000, with positive business results. The Heidelberg Group predicts that its sales figures for the 1999/2000 fiscal year (1 April 1999 to 31 March 2000) will better the figures for 1998/1999 (3.9 billion Euro) by more than ten percent. Chairman of the Management Board Bernhard Schreier explained: "We are coming to drupa 2000 with full order books. We have increased our orders received, which stood at around 3.3 billion Euro in the 1998/99 fiscal year, by more than 20 percent. Our new strategic orientation as a solution provider has been a resounding success."
As expected, the Heidelberg Group's after-tax result is on a par with the previous year (1998/1999: 256 million Euro) less the restructuring costs incurred for Kodak's former Office Imaging Division. The number of Heidelberg employees increased by 12 percent on last year's figures, to some 24,200 worldwide by the end of March 2000. The preliminary business figures will also be announced on May 25th at drupa.
From the individual product to the complete workflow
At drupa 2000, being held between 18 and 31 May in Dusseldorf, Heidelberg will be premiering solutions in nine "Solution Centers" - each geared to customers' specific requirements - which in addition to printing presses will also cover prepress and finishing. "This matches our new positioning exactly. We aren't just presenting presses that are technology leaders and are among the best in the world. We're also showing how we can use these innovative components to create integrated, end-to-end and cost-effective solutions", stated Schreier. For Heidelberg, providing users with solutions means assuming responsibility for the entire technical process involved in generating print products. The company will be exhibiting over a total area of 7,800 m2 in Halls 1, 2 and 5, as well as in an outside pavilion.
Heidelberg is also collaborating with partners in its drive to create an open Internet standard for the graphic arts industry "Use of and access to the Internet must be guaranteed for our customers through the use of open standards. Today's proprietary products on the market won't be around for much longer", continues Schreier.
Product high points at the Heidelberg stand include the Mainstream 80, the first member of a new generation of newspaper rotary presses, the NexPress digital color press which was developed through a joint venture with Kodak, and the new Speedmaster CD 74 for packaging printing.
To coincide with the start of drupa, Heidelberg has announced the official termination of its joint venture with the Canadian company, Creo. With immediate effect, Heidelberg will be marketing the Prinergy workflow solution and the Trendsetter CtP products under its own name. Heidelberg is also introducing two new CtP solutions for the high-end sector of the prepress industry. The Heidelberg Topsetter 74 and 102 are two external drum imagesetters, which will be produced as licensed products in Kiel in the future.
The future - digital printing
The company's other main pillar of activity is the digital printing sector. Heidelberg took over the US Kodak Group's Office Imaging Division last year. "With a growth rate of 20 percent in the black/white sector and 30 percent in the color sector, digital printing is the fastest-growing market", says Schreier. In the first year, the company exceeded its plans for the black/white market by more than 25 percent.
Heidelberg's leading position in its core business sector, offset printing, is something that the company wishes to consolidate and expand in parallel to these new developments.
Service becoming increasingly important
Service is playing an increasingly important role in Heidelberg's success. Heidelberg is predicting that the consultancy and services sector alone will contribute 30 percent to overall sales over the coming ten years. 4000 technicians are located worldwide and are committed to ensuring that operations run smoothly. Heidelberg can also deliver spare parts to its customers within 24 hours, thanks to its "European Logistics Center" in Wiesloch.
The services offered by the solution provider will extend in the future to include further training of customers at the Print Media Academy, which was opened in the middle of April this year. In launching this training establishment, the company has created a center for communication, skills and expertise which allows theory and practice to be interlinked. Customers and employees can attend congresses, forums and management training courses, and also graduate from the "Print Manager" advanced course. The global training strategy also incorporates Heidelberg's training centers in Cairo, Atlanta, Moscow, Shenzen and Kuala Lumpur.
For further information:
Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG
Unternehmenskommunikation
Thomas Fichtl
Tel.: +49 (0)6221 92 47 47
E-mail: thomas.fichtl@heidelberg.com
Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) is approaching the world's largest trade fair for print and paper, drupa 2000, with positive business results. The Heidelberg Group predicts that its sales figures for the 1999/2000 fiscal year (1 April 1999 to 31 March 2000) will better the figures for 1998/1999 (3.9 billion Euro) by more than ten percent. Chairman of the Management Board Bernhard Schreier explained: "We are coming to drupa 2000 with full order books. We have increased our orders received, which stood at around 3.3 billion Euro in the 1998/99 fiscal year, by more than 20 percent. Our new strategic orientation as a solution provider has been a resounding success."
As expected, the Heidelberg Group's after-tax result is on a par with the previous year (1998/1999: 256 million Euro) less the restructuring costs incurred for Kodak's former Office Imaging Division. The number of Heidelberg employees increased by 12 percent on last year's figures, to some 24,200 worldwide by the end of March 2000. The preliminary business figures will also be announced on May 25th at drupa.
From the individual product to the complete workflow
At drupa 2000, being held between 18 and 31 May in Dusseldorf, Heidelberg will be premiering solutions in nine "Solution Centers" - each geared to customers' specific requirements - which in addition to printing presses will also cover prepress and finishing. "This matches our new positioning exactly. We aren't just presenting presses that are technology leaders and are among the best in the world. We're also showing how we can use these innovative components to create integrated, end-to-end and cost-effective solutions", stated Schreier. For Heidelberg, providing users with solutions means assuming responsibility for the entire technical process involved in generating print products. The company will be exhibiting over a total area of 7,800 m2 in Halls 1, 2 and 5, as well as in an outside pavilion.
Heidelberg is also collaborating with partners in its drive to create an open Internet standard for the graphic arts industry "Use of and access to the Internet must be guaranteed for our customers through the use of open standards. Today's proprietary products on the market won't be around for much longer", continues Schreier.
Product high points at the Heidelberg stand include the Mainstream 80, the first member of a new generation of newspaper rotary presses, the NexPress digital color press which was developed through a joint venture with Kodak, and the new Speedmaster CD 74 for packaging printing.
To coincide with the start of drupa, Heidelberg has announced the official termination of its joint venture with the Canadian company, Creo. With immediate effect, Heidelberg will be marketing the Prinergy workflow solution and the Trendsetter CtP products under its own name. Heidelberg is also introducing two new CtP solutions for the high-end sector of the prepress industry. The Heidelberg Topsetter 74 and 102 are two external drum imagesetters, which will be produced as licensed products in Kiel in the future.
The future - digital printing
The company's other main pillar of activity is the digital printing sector. Heidelberg took over the US Kodak Group's Office Imaging Division last year. "With a growth rate of 20 percent in the black/white sector and 30 percent in the color sector, digital printing is the fastest-growing market", says Schreier. In the first year, the company exceeded its plans for the black/white market by more than 25 percent.
Heidelberg's leading position in its core business sector, offset printing, is something that the company wishes to consolidate and expand in parallel to these new developments.
Service becoming increasingly important
Service is playing an increasingly important role in Heidelberg's success. Heidelberg is predicting that the consultancy and services sector alone will contribute 30 percent to overall sales over the coming ten years. 4000 technicians are located worldwide and are committed to ensuring that operations run smoothly. Heidelberg can also deliver spare parts to its customers within 24 hours, thanks to its "European Logistics Center" in Wiesloch.
The services offered by the solution provider will extend in the future to include further training of customers at the Print Media Academy, which was opened in the middle of April this year. In launching this training establishment, the company has created a center for communication, skills and expertise which allows theory and practice to be interlinked. Customers and employees can attend congresses, forums and management training courses, and also graduate from the "Print Manager" advanced course. The global training strategy also incorporates Heidelberg's training centers in Cairo, Atlanta, Moscow, Shenzen and Kuala Lumpur.
For further information:
Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG
Unternehmenskommunikation
Thomas Fichtl
Tel.: +49 (0)6221 92 47 47
E-mail: thomas.fichtl@heidelberg.com
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