11 March 2025 marks the 175th anniversary of the company’s founding, when it began as a bell foundry in Frankenthal in the Palatinate region of Germany.
The business said it sees growth potential of more than €300m (£249m) in sales for all strategic initiatives by the 2028/2029 financial year, while at the same time consolidating its performance and increasing its efficiency.
Jürgen Otto, CEO of Heidelberg, said: “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.”
Heidelberg said it was benefiting from the constantly growing global demand for packaging. In cooperation with Solenis, the business said it was responding to the global trend away from plastic and foil towards paper-based packaging “and will in future offer solutions for printing recyclable packaging, particularly for the food industry”.
The company said it already generated more than half of its turnover in the packaging segment, and that this trend was clearly upward.
Heidelberg is also seizing opportunities in the growing industrial digital printing sector, including through its cooperation with Canon, and said this would significantly increase sales of digital printing technology, with incoming orders already confirming this from the next financial year.
Furthermore, the company said it would continue to expand its internationalisation, particularly in growth markets such as Asia, the US and emerging markets.
Another focus is on Heidelberg’s industrial business to open up new product areas, markets, and industries. The company said it already 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.
Heidelberg’s past developments have included the Original Heidelberger Tiegel and the Speedmaster series of presses for sheetfed offset printing.
“[The] 175 years of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen are a strong testimony to consistency, as well as innovative strength and thus future viability,” said Otto.
“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.”
Heidelberg said it is celebrating its anniversary year with numerous events and activities. In the summer there will be a week of celebrations at the Wiesloch-Walldorf headquarters in its newly designed demonstration centre, including an anniversary ceremony with guests from all over the world. Family days are also planned for employees at individual locations.
There will also be an anniversary magazine “in which the history of the company will be presented, and the future will be directed”.
Heidelberg employs 9,500 staff worldwide and has production facilities in several countries and regions, including China and the US.
