IPEX orders boost Heidelberg but doesn’t stop cost cutting

Trade shows lead to increase in orders for Heidelberg as the company concludes negotiations on cost-cutting measures.

Both IPEX in the United Kingdom and ExpoPrint in Brazil helped the company to achieve a positive trend in incoming orders in the first quarter of financial year 2010/11. Incoming orders were EUR 786 million, up by 43 per cent on the same period the previous year.

In a statement, the company claimed that “the order situation worldwide remains unsettled”, citing a weakness in the US and Japan, and “considerable improvement” in some European markets and regions in Asia, especially China, and South America.

Locally, Heidelberg was not able to comment on Australia and New Zealand, though it is known that the market has experienced at least some of the benefits of IPEX as a Melbourne printer will install the country’s first Speedmaster CX 102 this year.

Heidelberg’s management and works council have also agreed on job cuts and necessary adjustments to personnel capacities. Heidelberg is currently preparing to cut 500 jobs worldwide until October this year in an attempt to cut costs by an initial EUR 60 million in financial year 2010/11 and a total of EUR 80 million in financial year 2011/12.

CEO, Bernhard Schreier, (pictured), sees the cost-cutting as a necessary way for the company to move forwards.

“Following constructive talks, management and employee representatives have agreed on a Heidelberg way – a strategy for adapting existing capabilities to the order situation, while keeping as many staff and thus as much valuable know-how as possible at the company,” he said.

“The package of measures now agreed marks a new departure for everyone involved in the negotiations and demonstrates a great sense of responsibility on all sides.”