Xeikon like many other companies has tried to keep their customers engaged through assorted media and online events. They held a few “virtual” Xeikon Cafés during the pandemic and held their first “live” Xeikon Café in more than two years at their headquarters in Lier, Belgium, April 26–28, 2022, and it was full of great information, partners, and products, including some new ones. While it was focused on label innovation, it covered a lot more! 

In an interview with Benoit Chatelard, President and CEO of Xeikon, we discussed the last two “pandemic” years and how the company and their customers navigated and survived the many difficulties. According to Chatelard, “In the first year of COVID, the investment part of our business, the hardware, had a dramatic drop, like the whole industry. However, our business is more application-oriented and revenues from the annuity or ‘clicks’ of our customers, saw a resurgence of that revenue because of the increase in packaging production from a consumable standpoint. Many of our customers are probably busier than they’ve been in years.” 

But the results were still mixed since 60% of their business is labels and 40% is graphic arts. The growth in the graphic arts investment saw a drop and while there was still investment, it was less than expected, and overall they failed to make the plan. However, if you balance the hardware, which is only about 30% of the business, with the rest, which is service, system integration, project management, and OEM integration, while it wasn’t a great year, it wasn’t that bad. In fact, in 2021, they still grew their hardware sales by more than 50%. They were also position for good future growth since they went into 2021 with a lot of new products. The confidence in their customers and products remained strong and as a result they wasn’t any reduction in their labor force.