As it enters its anniversary year, Heidelberg says it will tackle the challenges of the future with a clear growth strategy.
Jürgen Otto, chief executive officer of Heidelberg, says, “To expand our market position, we are increasingly tapping into growth potential in our core business in packaging and digital printing as well as in the software and lifecycle business.
“We will also continue to expand our offering in the growing green technologies market. This includes key areas such as high-precision mechanical engineering, the automotive industry, charging infrastructure and software, and new hydrogen technologies.”
March 11, 2025, marks the 175th anniversary of the company’s founding. What began over a century and a half ago as a bell foundry in Frankenthal in the Palatinate region of Germany, has since developed into a leading global technology company and total solutions provider for print shops and packaging applications.
Growth potential
Heidelberg sees growth potential of more than €300m ($554m) in sales for all strategic initiatives by the 2028/2029 financial year, while at the same time consolidating performance and increasing efficiency.
Benefiting from the constantly growing global demand for packaging, Heidelberg says the end customer market for packaging has grown by more than 6o percent worldwide over the past decade. In cooperation with Solenis, Heidelberg is responding to the global trend away from plastic and foil towards paper-based packaging and will offer solutions for printing recyclable packaging, particularly for the food industry. The company already generates more than 50 percent of its turnover in the packaging segment. And the trend is clearly upward.
According to market estimates, the global digital printing market accessible to Heidelberg, including service and consumables, will grow from around €5bn to €7.5bn by 2029. Heidelberg has significantly expanded its offering, including through its cooperation with Canon. This will significantly increase sales of digital printing solutions. Incoming orders already confirm this from the next financial year.
Global presence
Heidelberg sees a lever for more sales growth in its strong international presence in around 170 countries worldwide, with one of the largest global sales and service networks. The company will continue to expand this internationalization, particularly in growth markets such as Asia, the USA and emerging markets. Heidelberg has the best prerequisites for this, particularly in China, thanks to its local production and partnership with MK Masterwork. More than 85 percent of the company’s business is already conducted outside Germany.
Another focus is on Heidelberg’s industrial business to open up new product areas, markets, and industries. To this end, the company has extensive skills, expertise and resources that are currently already being used outside the printing industry, particularly in the fields of high-precision mechanical engineering, the automotive industry, electromobility and hydrogen. The company is also increasingly offering its expertise and installed capacities to other companies in order to efficiently industrialize or manufacture their products.
Anniversary celebrations
Heidelberg has helped shape the printing industry for 175 years with innovations, quality, and reliability. The company has set new standards with pioneering developments such as the “Original Heidelberger Tiegel” and the “Speedmaster” model series for sheetfed offset printing.
Jürgen Otto, says, “175 years of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen are a strong testimony to consistency, as well as innovative strength and thus future viability.
“Thanks to its impressive achievements over the past 175 years, the company is looking forward to further growth in the coming years with its current market position, the expertise of its employees and global customer relationships.”
Together with customers, employees, and partners, Heidelberg is celebrating its anniversary year with numerous events and activities.
It will host a week of celebrations at the Wiesloch-Walldorf headquarters in the newly designed demonstration centre, “The Home of Print”. This will include an anniversary ceremony with guests from all over the world including customers, suppliers, partners and representatives from politics and society. Family days are planned for employees at individual locations. In addition, there will be an anniversary magazine in which the history of the company will be presented, and the future will be directed.
With around 9,500 employees worldwide, production facilities in several countries and regions, including China and the USA, as well as the densest sales and service network in the industry, Heidelberg is now a true global player and world market leader from Germany. Juergen Otto adds, “Our history impressively demonstrates how entrepreneurship, technical expertise and the genuine creative power of our employees can have a lasting impact on a company over such a long period of time and, far beyond that, on an entire industry to this day.”
