Heidelberg Reduces Postpress Portfolio

HEIDELBERG, GERMANY—Press and finishing equipment manufacturer Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) confirmed reports earlier this week that it has realigned its postpress portfolio. The company feels in-house production at the Heidelberg sites in Germany are no longer competitive under the new market conditions, thus the relevant operations are being discontinued. The lone exception is production of folding machines at its Ludwigsburg site, which will continue.

In the future, postpress packaging products and solutions will be developed and manufactured by its new Chinese OEM partner Masterwork Machinery Co., with Heidelberg retaining responsibility for sales and service activities.

In the postpress commercial business area, Heidelberg will only continue to market the established folding machines and cutters. Swiss company Müller Martini will take over service activities for installed equipment from discontinued series. These measures will not affect Polar cutters and Heidelberg folding machines.

"We were able to win two renowned suppliers as partners for our realigned postpress portfolio," said Stephan Plenz, member of the board, Heidelberg Equipment. "They will help us provide our customers with competitive products and ensure continuity in services and service parts."

The reduction of in-house capacities will result in the closure of the Leipzig site and a corresponding reduction in the workforce at Heidelberg's Ludwigsburg and Wiesloch-Walldorf manufacturing facilities. A total of around 650 employees worldwide will be affected.

At its annual press conference, Heidelberg had earlier stated that it would institute new business models for products with weak margins as part of its portfolio optimization.

"The competitiveness of postpress product lines at Heidelberg was limited, so these activities are being placed on an entirely new footing," said Heidelberg CEO Gerold Linzbach. "Realigning these areas is an important step in improving the company's economic situation and getting closer to the target EBITDA margin of at least 8 percent."