12.12.2023
The Gallus Group, a subsidiary of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (HEIDELBERG), looks back with pride on a year of growth, innovation, and substantial progress in its mission to lead market change—with extremely positive prospects and encouraging development for the entire company through 2024.
"With labels and packaging now accounting for 50 percent of the Group's total sales, the new digital and automated solutions Gallus is presenting today will play an important role in HEIDELBERG's future. This makes Gallus an important pillar in the company's growth strategy, and we are more committed than ever to its long-term future," says Dr. Ludwin Monz, CEO, HEIDELBERG.
The recent Labelexpo Europe was the highlight of an eventful trade fair season for Gallus. In 2023, the team joined forces with HEIDELBERG to present its solutions and insights on international stages and at trade fairs – from Interpack in Germany to Printing United in the USA, FuturePrint in the UK, and many other events.
A special milestone was the opening of the Gallus Experience Center, the brand-new industry meeting place in St. Gallen, with a week-long program of events entitled "Gallus Experience Days." The Gallus Experience Center is specifically geared toward the "digital transformation" of the label and narrow web industry and aims to support the future success of the industry by strengthening partnerships to promote innovation and sustainability. The Experience Center is located at the company's headquarters, just one floor away from the Gallus Classics division, and has already welcomed customers, partners, academics, and industry associations since its opening in June.
"Looking ahead to 2024, we are aware that the label and packaging industry is facing some of the biggest challenges we have ever experienced. From supply chain issues to increased costs and excessive interest rates, profit margins will continue to be under pressure," comments Dario Urbinati, CEO of the Gallus Group. "Combined with the shortage of skilled labor that is evident in almost all regions, companies continue to feel the ongoing pressure, so the road to 2024 is likely to be challenging and complex. However, for the first time, we have a clear, achievable path to overcome some of these challenges and lead the industry into a lucrative, successful future.
"2023 saw the rollout of 'smart, connected printing'—a new category and a whole new way of thinking about our industry that captures the huge potential of advanced, modern digital technologies for the label and packaging market," explains Dario Urbinati. "With connectivity built in from the start, tomorrow's smart, automatable printing ecosystem will be a means of addressing labor shortages while unlocking revolutionary production and manufacturing efficiencies. Looking ahead, these savings and this new way of working will be critical in providing printers with the level of competitiveness and profitability that will be essential to the future viability of their businesses. More than that, they will be critical in ensuring the long-term success of our industry."
Given the challenging circumstances of the past twelve months, strategic decisions have become increasingly important for companies across the industry – in fact, they are becoming a key factor in overcoming the ongoing difficulties. Where companies are able to invest, they are increasingly looking for solutions that improve production efficiency, reduce costs, and increase productivity. Against this backdrop, Gallus has further expanded its portfolio during the year and launched several new strategic system solutions, all based on Gallus' modular system. This offers printers the ultimate flexibility to change or expand in line with changing business requirements.
As a further development of the Gallus One – Gallus' flagship digital printing press, which was specially designed to overcome the total cost of ownership (TCO) when introducing digital roll-to-roll labels, with maximum automation and cloud-based technologies – the Gallus One with finishing was also introduced this year. The new solution, which further optimizes the TCO advantage, combines everything in one system: a digital printer with an inline flexo station, a semi-rotary die cutter that can change a print job within a minute, and a processing speed of up to 70 meters per minute.
For HEIDELBERG and Gallus, the launch of the Gallus One is particularly attractive not only because of the sale of the machine equipment, but also because of the continuous revenue streams generated by the sale of consumables. In addition, the machine and materials are closely linked, with the system based on the inkjet printing technology developed by HEIDELBERG and used in the Gallus One.
Since its market debut earlier this year, the solution has already generated strong sales momentum, with installations planned for the remainder of this year and into 2024.
The digital printing unit (DPU) for the Gallus ECS 340 flexographic printing press, also available this summer as part of the Gallus Experience Days, is a significant step toward leveraging the flexibility and versatility of digital printing across the board. The new machine, which converts a conventional Gallus ECS 340 into a Gallus Labelfire 340 hybrid printing press without requiring any additional investment in the platform, is already opening up new business opportunities for numerous label and packaging manufacturers throughout the industry, with even greater impact expected as further installations are made next year.
"Our strong focus on research and development reflects our commitment to building a label and packaging industry that will not only survive the economic headwinds we are experiencing today, but will expand despite them," Urbinati summarizes. "As we make great strides toward this goal, we recognize that this challenge extends far beyond any single manufacturer. To bring about long-term, meaningful change, comprehensive collaboration across the industry is required.
"Together with HEIDELBERG, we look forward to working with various stakeholders across the industry to build on this progress in 2024 and beyond."
12.12.2023
The Gallus Group, a subsidiary of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (HEIDELBERG), looks back with pride on a year of growth, innovation, and substantial progress in its mission to lead market change—with extremely positive prospects and encouraging development for the entire company through 2024.
"With labels and packaging now accounting for 50 percent of the Group's total sales, the new digital and automated solutions Gallus is presenting today will play an important role in HEIDELBERG's future. This makes Gallus an important pillar in the company's growth strategy, and we are more committed than ever to its long-term future," says Dr. Ludwin Monz, CEO, HEIDELBERG.
The recent Labelexpo Europe was the highlight of an eventful trade fair season for Gallus. In 2023, the team joined forces with HEIDELBERG to present its solutions and insights on international stages and at trade fairs – from Interpack in Germany to Printing United in the USA, FuturePrint in the UK, and many other events.
A special milestone was the opening of the Gallus Experience Center, the brand-new industry meeting place in St. Gallen, with a week-long program of events entitled "Gallus Experience Days." The Gallus Experience Center is specifically geared toward the "digital transformation" of the label and narrow web industry and aims to support the future success of the industry by strengthening partnerships to promote innovation and sustainability. The Experience Center is located at the company's headquarters, just one floor away from the Gallus Classics division, and has already welcomed customers, partners, academics, and industry associations since its opening in June.
"Looking ahead to 2024, we are aware that the label and packaging industry is facing some of the biggest challenges we have ever experienced. From supply chain issues to increased costs and excessive interest rates, profit margins will continue to be under pressure," comments Dario Urbinati, CEO of the Gallus Group. "Combined with the shortage of skilled labor that is evident in almost all regions, companies continue to feel the ongoing pressure, so the road to 2024 is likely to be challenging and complex. However, for the first time, we have a clear, achievable path to overcome some of these challenges and lead the industry into a lucrative, successful future.
"2023 saw the rollout of 'smart, connected printing'—a new category and a whole new way of thinking about our industry that captures the huge potential of advanced, modern digital technologies for the label and packaging market," explains Dario Urbinati. "With connectivity built in from the start, tomorrow's smart, automatable printing ecosystem will be a means of addressing labor shortages while unlocking revolutionary production and manufacturing efficiencies. Looking ahead, these savings and this new way of working will be critical in providing printers with the level of competitiveness and profitability that will be essential to the future viability of their businesses. More than that, they will be critical in ensuring the long-term success of our industry."
Given the challenging circumstances of the past twelve months, strategic decisions have become increasingly important for companies across the industry – in fact, they are becoming a key factor in overcoming the ongoing difficulties. Where companies are able to invest, they are increasingly looking for solutions that improve production efficiency, reduce costs, and increase productivity. Against this backdrop, Gallus has further expanded its portfolio during the year and launched several new strategic system solutions, all based on Gallus' modular system. This offers printers the ultimate flexibility to change or expand in line with changing business requirements.
As a further development of the Gallus One – Gallus' flagship digital printing press, which was specially designed to overcome the total cost of ownership (TCO) when introducing digital roll-to-roll labels, with maximum automation and cloud-based technologies – the Gallus One with finishing was also introduced this year. The new solution, which further optimizes the TCO advantage, combines everything in one system: a digital printer with an inline flexo station, a semi-rotary die cutter that can change a print job within a minute, and a processing speed of up to 70 meters per minute.
For HEIDELBERG and Gallus, the launch of the Gallus One is particularly attractive not only because of the sale of the machine equipment, but also because of the continuous revenue streams generated by the sale of consumables. In addition, the machine and materials are closely linked, with the system based on the inkjet printing technology developed by HEIDELBERG and used in the Gallus One.
Since its market debut earlier this year, the solution has already generated strong sales momentum, with installations planned for the remainder of this year and into 2024.
The digital printing unit (DPU) for the Gallus ECS 340 flexographic printing press, also available this summer as part of the Gallus Experience Days, is a significant step toward leveraging the flexibility and versatility of digital printing across the board. The new machine, which converts a conventional Gallus ECS 340 into a Gallus Labelfire 340 hybrid printing press without requiring any additional investment in the platform, is already opening up new business opportunities for numerous label and packaging manufacturers throughout the industry, with even greater impact expected as further installations are made next year.
"Our strong focus on research and development reflects our commitment to building a label and packaging industry that will not only survive the economic headwinds we are experiencing today, but will expand despite them," Urbinati summarizes. "As we make great strides toward this goal, we recognize that this challenge extends far beyond any single manufacturer. To bring about long-term, meaningful change, comprehensive collaboration across the industry is required.
"Together with HEIDELBERG, we look forward to working with various stakeholders across the industry to build on this progress in 2024 and beyond."