Heidelberg Clarifies Direction

Heidelberg Chairman Bernhard Schreier revealed that, by the end of Heidelberg's fiscal year in March of 2004, he expects the web division to be sold and a determination made public about Heidelberg's digital operations.

Schreier contends that the outlook for future commercial web offset press sales is particularly glum. "We are convinced that there will be quite a bit of consolidation (among both printers and suppliers) in the future due to overcapacity in the market," he said. "It's questionable how many web printing presses will be sold over the next three to five years."