Anyone who has been buying equipment from Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG, competing with it, or simply following its fortunes in recent years knows that it is a profoundly changed company. It is still the world's largest manufacturer of sheetfed offset lithographic presses, but shrinkage in global demand for offset equipment has taken some of the stature away from that distinction. At times, the company has seemed stuck in a perpetual state of restructuring as it searches for a stable business base and a product portfolio more accurately aligned with the kinds and quantities of printing being purchased in commercial and packaging markets today.

But, it now appears that a new business model hammered into shape by restructuring is finally beginning to take hold. Heidelberg is close to achieving a profile that would have been unimaginable at the height of its sway as a printing machine maker: a scenario in which fully half of its revenue will come from sales of consumables and support services. That has been accomplished both by growing these activities and, more painfully, by shedding underperforming product lines, slashing excess costs, and trimming unneeded jobs elsewhere in the organization.

All of this formed the backdrop to a media briefing by Heidelberg last week in the German cities of Hannover and Braunschweig, where the company detailed its expanded plans for consumables and services and introduced two printing firms—one German, the other American—that are making exceptional use of what is on offer in these areas. The briefing will be the subject of an upcoming report by WhatTheyThink, which also took the opportunity to ask Heidelberg for an update on a key portion of the 50% of volume that still is expected to come from machinery: equipment for printing and converting labels and packaging.