Heidelberg Druck Pairs Pharma Logistics Tie-Up With a Two-Day Push Into Hybrid Printing

Heidelberg showcases AI and digital printing at SHIFT 2026, with Gallus naming an interim CEO from 1 November and half-year results due 12 November.

Heidelberger Druckmaschinen is using a two-day in-house gathering to put its growth bets on display, opening the SHIFT 2026 event in Heidelberg on Tuesday with a first day built around artificial intelligence and digital printing. The programme shifts to the Wiesloch-Walldorf production site on Wednesday, where process digitalisation and hybrid print production will be demonstrated to an industry audience.

The showcase lands alongside a string of commercial and personnel developments across the group's specialist units, all aimed at deepening existing customer relationships and embedding new technology into day-to-day production.

Klampfer installs Jetfire 50 as Eastern Europe demand builds

Management is pointing to recent wins in digital printing as evidence the hybrid approach is gaining traction. Austria's Klampfer Druck installed a Jetfire 50 digital press at the end of August, wiring offset and digital output together inside a single operation. Heidelberg links that deal to rising appetite for industrial digital printing across Eastern Europe, a trend it attributes largely to the steady shift toward shorter print runs.

Software and machinery are being sold as a package elsewhere. Turkish packaging and label printer Sade Ofset runs Prinect Production as the central platform steering its workflows, and replaced two existing presses with a Speedmaster CX 104 to tighten operations.

pfenning tie-up targets pharma packaging chain

On the pharmaceutical side, Heidelberg has agreed a partnership with the pfenning group to develop integrated solutions for pharmaceutical packaging production. The work centres on linking printing, packaging and logistics directly within one continuous chain — an initiative Heidelberg expects to deepen value creation.

The Gallus Group, meanwhile, is pushing its own international sales agenda. The subsidiary will appear at LOUPE India 2026, running from 29 October to 1 November, where it plans to bring the Gallus Screeny Printing Unit to the regional market for the first time and strengthen its hand in Indian label and packaging printing.

Orders are following. On 29 September the division booked a Gallus Labelmaster 440 from the NextGen Label Group, with installation scheduled for early 2027 at the Cohoes site — a continuation of an existing relationship with that customer.

Gallus leadership handover set for November

Gallus has also set a leadership transition in motion, announced a little over a week ago. Michael Bsirske is to become interim CEO on 1 November 2026. Dario Urbinati moves to the supervisory board on the same date and is to take its chairmanship from 1 January 2027. The reshuffle is intended to keep management structures orderly while day-to-day business carries on.

Operationally, Heidelberg says the worldwide integration of manroland sheetfed's lifecycle and service business is running to plan, with the key implementation steps due for completion within the next 18 months.

Half-year figures due 12 November

Investors get their first hard read on the turnaround next month. According to the company's financial calendar, half-year results for the 2026/2027 financial year will be published on 12 November — a date the market is likely to use to gauge how the earnings story is developing.

The shares traded at EUR 1.42 on Tuesday, up 1.4% on the day, a modest stabilisation against a 30% decline so far this year. The stock has been quoted at EUR 1.39 in pre-market trading, and sits well below its 52-week high of EUR 2.40. Whether the packaging partnerships and the management changes at the subsidiary are enough to give the stock lasting lift depends on the economic viability of the individual projects.