EXECUTIVE Q&A ─ Heidelberger
EXECUTIVE Q&A:
RAINER HUNDSDÖRFER, CEO HEIDELBERGER DRUCKMASCHINEN AG, AND CEDRIC MUENZING, HEAD OF SERVICE HEIDELBERG NORTH AMERICA By Ralf Schlözer Printing News: Let’s start with the probably most frequently asked question nowadays: How did the COVID-19 pandemic impact Heidelberg in 2020, and how has the road to recovery been so far? Rainer Hundsdörfer: Naturally, the pandemic hit us severely. Last year at about this time we noticed almost a state of shock in the industry. This eased during summer and continued to improve. From July orders increased, and in December we saw the high point of the year, with worldwide orders surpassing 2019 levels. The are some differences among customers, however. We need to distinguish between packaging and commercial printers. If there are no events, less advertising, there is Rainer Hundsdörfer, CEO of less to print. The online Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG activities, however, are not only driving demand for packaging printers, but also for commercial print markets. We have seen a huge increase in inserts for parcels. Each parcel now includes catalogues, vouchers and flyers. The parcel has become a new channel for advertising, not only for the goods included. It is taking advantage of the unpackaging experience. In addition, the consumer does not need to start his PC to view marketing materials. It
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creates a new significance for print, where print is faster and easier to use. PN: Probably the new direct mail? RH: Exactly. Even more targeted than classic direct mail. This helped some of our customers to regain some volume. There are geographic differences as well. China is back to normal since July and since fall we do have one record month after the other. February was much better than last year for example. For the first quarter this year we do not see a decline despite all the renewed lockdowns around the world. It is not the recovery we hoped for. However, once large parts of the population have been vaccinated by the middle of this year and life is resuming, the economic experts predict a post-Corona boom. This will be an uplift for our customers as well, and some of our customers are already investing for that. Still regional differences apply. But I am very optimistic for growth this year. Nevertheless, the decline has been harsh, and in our current financial year ending in March, we lost about €400 to €500 million in revenue. We plan to make up most of it in the following financial year. What helped us a lot is the global reach of Heidelberg. It enabled us to support our customers worldwide. We were able to install all presses ordered, in many cases without sending specialists from Germany due to travel restrictions. We have 2,500 qualified service technicians all around the world. This is pretty unique for
WhatTheyThink - Printing News | May 2021
4/15/21 11:01 AM
