Koenig & Bauer gears up for the future

  • Continued focus on packaging as a growth market
  • Clear commitment to the current portfolio strategy
  • Research and development budgets remain unaffected

 To reinforce the company’s position as the leading supplier of press and post-press solutions for packaging, industrial and security printing applications, and to boost the earning power of the Koenig & Bauer Group, the management board has been working intensively on developing and expanding the “Performance 2024” efficiency programme over the past months. There are also plans to realise annual cost saving effects which will then amount to more than €100 million and continue increasing until 2024, while maintaining and, in fact, accelerating all innovation, process and product developments. The non-recurring costs in the mid two-digit million Euro range this makes necessary will be recorded in the group results for the business year 2020 as expenditure realised as a provision












The board members responsible for the "Performance 2024" efficiency programme explain to employees the measures that will enable the company to continue to develop even in a tense global economic situation. (from left to right: Michael Ulverich, COO, Claus Bolza-Schünemann, CEO, Dr. Andreas Pleßke, Segment Board Member

The principal market segments addressed by Koenig & Bauer, such as the structurally expanding areas of packaging and industrial printing, remain fundamentally intact. This is clearly demonstrated by the good levels of capacity utilisation currently reported by printers of packaging for food products, beverages, and pharmaceuticals, as well as the booming online trade. Even so, customers are postponing new investments due to all the uncertainty brought by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The primary objective of the four-year, multi-pronged programme is to strengthen the company’s competitiveness for the long term. A range of measures aims to ensure further development of the product range in accordance with market needs, to continue with the digitalisation of processes, and, at the same time, achieve reductions in manufacturing costs. Koenig & Bauer continues to focus on end-to-end system solutions and optimisation of the total cost of ownership (TCO) for the customer. The investments in digital print and direct post-printing on corrugated board are being pursued with vigour, as is the joint venture with the Durst Group;  so too are new developments for security printing in the pipeline. Koenig & Bauer stands by its current product portfolio and will continue to work on consistently expanding it. The further digitalisation of the services it offers is another area at which particular attention is being directed.