Heidelberger Druckmaschinen has announced a decision to restructure the company effective April 1, 2010. The new corporate structure will create three divisions: Heidelberg Equipment, Heidelberg Services, and Heidelberg Financial Services.
Heidelberg has been hit hard by the economic downturn which has reduced demand for offset presses in its core markets. Before the downturn the company saw weakened demand as result of advertising shifts to electronic media and increased use of digital printing. The company will attempt to diversify revenue sources by increasing service offerings:
The company is also responding to the changing structures in the global print media industry by putting in place plans to significantly expand the "Heidelberg Services" division, which is relatively independent of economic cycles. The objective is to provide services that will help Heidelberg customers enjoy greater success on a sustainable basis. In addition to improving machine availability, Heidelberg also aims to boost productivity and efficiency and facilitate process integration and environmentally friendly printing.
There have been numerous reports in German business publications about a merger between Heidelberg and manroland. Both companies have denied to comment on this speculation. manroland AG Chairman Gerd Finkbeiner recently stated “manroland will be debt-free soon”
Discussion
By Lithoman on Nov 30, 2009
This is called rearranging the deck chairs. When one doesn't have a solid strategy this is what one does.
By Tony Karg on Dec 01, 2009
One hopes that Heidelberg corporately has specific business objectives that transcend the new divisional structure. One of the potential dangers in this approach is that one division will seek to maximize it's P/L by making business decisions that negatively impact the other divisions. (It is not uncommon for a Tech Service group to look to max out its revenue by heavily charging the equipment group for its services). Will this new structure enable Heidelberg to maximize its profitability in all three divisions or will they begin to fight within each group in order to promote their (divisional) interests over the larger business goals?
By Roy Winters on Dec 08, 2009
We have a lot of Heidelberg equipment and are therefore dependent on keeping the equipment running. We along with Heidelberg have been hard hit by the bad economic conditions. Heidelberg at this juncture can either alienate it's customer base or develope a loyal customer base depending on how it handles it's pain. If they pass the pain along they will push their customers in a different direction, if they seek to prop up their customer base they will have the best chance for survival in the long run. Which comes first, your customers or your own needs. Without a loyal customer base you are out of business. We need resonable service costs, that are available quickly.
Discussion
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