The Koenig & Bauer Group (“Koenig & Bauer”) remained on track for a recovery in its business in the first nine months of 2021. Customer orders rose by 37.3% to €978.6m during this period. This performance was particularly underpinned by the increase of around 54.0% in the Special segment. Orders were up on the previous year in all parts of this segment, especially driven by securities business. This shows that the banknote has retained its rightful place as a means of payment, especially in the pandemic, and will also remain relevant in the virtual world. Order intake was also up in the Sheetfed segment again, rising by 35.5%, with the sharply expansionary and more pandemic-resistant packaging printing market accounting for the bulk of this growth. This shows that our customers’ spending reticence is beginning to fade in many areas. Nevertheless, some new investments are being postponed due to the uncertainty surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic. In the first nine months of 2021, this mainly relates to order intake in the Digital & Webfed segment, although there were tentative signs of a recovery in incoming orders in the third quarter, as a total of five CorruCUT presses were successfully marketed to beta and new customers as of the end of July 2021. The presses are designed for highly efficient production of rotary die-cut boxes made of corrugated board with the highest flexo postprint quality. 

Another strategic milestone reached: world premiere of the VariJET digital press following the previously successful market launch of the CorruCUT and RotaJET

In mid-October, the company was able to combine the best of both worlds in the Sheetfed segment with the world premiere of the Koenig & Bauer Durst VariJET 106. This is because, with an output of 5,500 sheets per hour, the B1 press combines digital inkjet and classic offset printing. It features the basic technologies specifically required for automated, efficient, food-compliant printing systems and offers the shortest response times, variant diversity as well as individualization and enables efficient short-run  printing capabilities. In this way, it is addressing growing customer demand for sustainability and focusing on the ability to meet brand-name companies’ requirements with respect to multichannel communications, including e-commerce. The beta test is to commence under the guidance of Koenig & Bauer and Durst in the coming weeks. The first VariJET 106 units are expected to be installed at customer sites in Europe and America in the second half of 2022. The target groups are folding carton manufacturers for the pharmaceutical, cosmetics, tobacco and food industries.

As Dr. Andreas Pleßke, Chief Executive Officer of Koenig & Bauer AG, explains: “Our customers’ decisions to opt for a VariJET, RotaJET or CorruCut, for example, show that our focus on growth markets such as digital folding-box, beverage-carton and decor printing as well as corrugated printing is paying off. More than ever before, our customers’ purchasing decisions are being guided by efforts to optimise their “total cost of process.”

Pleßke adds: “However, we do not only see the pandemic as an enabler fore-commerce as it has also accelerated a paradigm shift in sustainability away from ‘growth at any price’ towards a more mindful ‘use of resources’. This shows that megatrends are not one-dimensional but have a multifaceted and complex impact and that their effects can also be mutually reinforcing. This applies to our customers as well as to our own company and is also reflected in the progress that we are making in our sustainability initiative.”

As a participant in the UN Global Compact, the world’s largest sustainability initiative, Koenig & Bauer is actively supporting the implementation of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and has identified seven areas of attention as the basis for its strategic sustainability initiatives. In particular, the Group’s diverse sustainability activities are targeted at the following SDGs: “3 - Good health and well-being”, “4 - Quality education”, “5 - Gender equality”, “8 - Decent work and economic growth”, “12 - Responsible consumption and production”, “13 - Climate action” and “17 - Partnerships for the goals”.