What Heliograph Holding does

Heliograph Holding GmbH is a privately held, family-owned industrial holding company headquartered in Krailling, Germany, that consolidates seven specialized manufacturing brands serving the global printing form production industry. The group's core business is the design, manufacture, and integration of prepress equipment and process technology for gravure cylinder manufacturing and adjacent printing forms, including electromechanical engravers, direct laser imaging systems, CTP systems (Computer-to-Plate), electroplating and surface processing equipment, automation and logistics systems, and chemical formulations. Brand-level capabilities include HELL's electromechanical and direct laser engraving, Ohio Gravure's hybrid engraving for packaging and decorative applications, Schepers' universal Digilas laser platforms, Lüscher's multi-wavelength CTP systems (XPose!, MultiDX!, JetScreen DX, XDrum! UV), K.Walter's plating and line automation, Daetwyler Graphics' precision cylinder machining, and Bauer's inline cylinder transportation and storage systems.

The company serves industrial customers across flexible packaging, tobacco packaging, decorative printing, security printing, publication gravure, offset, flexo, screen, dry offset, container, and industrial surface finishing applications. Its reach extends through direct sales subsidiaries and representatives in more than 30 countries across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, and Oceania, with production facilities in Germany (Schwentinental, Vreden, Hohenlockstedt, Griesheim), the United States (Miamisburg, Inman), and Switzerland (Oftringen). Revenue is generated predominantly through one-time capital equipment sales, complemented by aftermarket service, consumables, and process technology contracts; pricing is not publicly disclosed.

Commercially, Heliograph pursues an enterprise field sales model augmented by regional channel partners, with marketing activity concentrated on a multilingual corporate website, the "helioscope" digital newsletter, and gated information packages such as "TIEFDRUCK DER ZUKUNFT." The company maintains compatibility and technology integration relationships with Heidelberger Druckmaschinen, Toray, Presstek, Gallus, and Kocher & Beck. Founded as a formal holding in 2009 but with operating roots extending to K.Walter's founding in 1906, Heliograph operates 501–1,000 employees and has no public listing, no disclosed institutional investors, and no publicly reported revenue.

Name

Heliograph Holding

Legal name

Heliograph Holding GmbH

Website

https://heliograph-holding.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Heliograph Holding is a family-owned German industrial holding that consolidates seven specialized brands designing and manufacturing prepress equipment — including engravers, laser CTP systems, electroplating, and automation — for the global gravure, offset, flexo, and screen printing industries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Printing Form Manufacturing Equipment

NAICS

Support Activities for Printing (32312), Printing and Related Support Activities (323)

SIC

Printing Trades Machinery & Equipment (3555), Special Industry Machinery (No Metalworking Machinery) (3550)

akta.pro primary industry

Prepress, Plate-Making & Artwork Services (IMALAKAM)

akta.pro secondary industry

Production & High-Volume Printing Systems (HDACAEAJ)

Keywords

• Gravure cylinder equipment
• Prepress printing technology
• Electromechanical engraving systems
• Laser imaging CTP
• Printing form manufacturing

Headquarters

HQ city

Krailling

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices19 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Equipment Manufacturing and Sales: Design, manufacture, and sale of prepress equipment and process technology including electromechanical engravers, laser imaging systems, CTP systems, plating equipment, surface processing machines, and logistics automation systems through seven subsidiary brands.
2. Process Technology and Automation Solutions: Complete equipment and process solutions for printing form manufacture including plating lines, automation systems, measuring technology, and chemical formulations. Solutions are customized, scalable, and include interfaces to business information systems.
3. Global Service and Support: Service organization with global customer proximity providing on-site optimization, chemical analyses, and technical support across all product lines through subsidiaries and representatives.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Heliograph Holding designs, manufactures and sells prepress equipment and process technology for the printing form manufacturing industry through seven complementary subsidiary brands. Its portfolio covers electromechanical and laser engraving systems for gravure cylinders, CTP laser imaging systems for offset/flexo/letterpress/screen/pad printing, electroplating and surface processing equipment, and automated logistics systems for cylinder production lines. The group sells complete, customized and scalable production-line solutions directly to printing form manufacturers, print shops, and industrial users worldwide.

Product overview

Heliograph Holding is a decentralized network of seven complementary brands providing systems, equipment, and solutions for printing form manufacturing. The portfolio encompasses HELL Gravure Systems (electromechanical and direct laser engravers for gravure, relief, and embossing), Ohio Gravure Technologies (specialized engravers and layout software), Schepers Laser Technology (universal Digilas laser systems), Lüscher Technologies (XPose!, MultiDX!, JetScreen DX, XDrum! UV CTP systems for multiple printing methods), K.Walter (plating equipment, process technology, and automation), Daetwyler Graphics (surface processing machines), and Bauer Logistics (cylinder transportation and storage systems). The seven competence centers cover all market requirements from packaging and decorative printing to container, security, and industrial applications. Solution categories include Gravure Imaging (electromechanical engraving, LAMS etching mask, direct laser), Gravure Cylinder Lines (electroplating, machining, automation), Gravure Applications, Embossing & Hot Stamping, Dry Offset & Pad Printing, Flexo & Letterpress, Screen Printing, and Offset Printing.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• HELL Gravure Systems: Electromechanical and direct laser engravers for gravure cylinders, direct laser engravers for elastomer relief printing forms and metal embossing cylinders
• OHIO Gravure Technologies
• Schepers Laser Technology
• Lüscher Technologies
• K.Walter (Kaspar Walter)
• Daetwyler Graphics
• Bauer Logistics Systems

Products and services

• HELL Gravure Systems Electromechanical and direct laser engravers for gravure cylinders, including the HelioKlischograph, XtremeEngraving, PremiumSetter, and Cellaxy systems. Sold to printing form manufacturers and gravure printers.
• Ohio Gravure Technologies Special electromechanical engravers for packaging and decorative gravure, including Vision engraving heads, Hybrid Engraving systems, and specialized layout software for gravure cylinder production.
• Schepers Laser Technology (Digilas) Direct laser engravers for universal use across materials, roller sizes, resolutions, and applications; includes coating machines, LAMS lasers, and spray etching machines for gravure and embossing cylinders.
• Lüscher Technologies Laser imaging equipment for exposing offset, flexo, letterpress, screen and pad printing forms, featuring XPose! internal drum, MultiDX! flatbed/hybrid, JetScreen DX round, and XDrum! UV CTP systems with multiple laser wavelengths.
• K.Walter (Kaspar Walter) Plating equipment and process technology for gravure cylinders, including automation of complete production lines, measurement systems, and chemical formulations for alkaline and acid copper, zinc, and chrome plating.
• Daetwyler Graphics Precision surface processing equipment for gravure cylinders, including turning, milling, grinding, and polishing machines that set standards in process reliability for cylinder production.
• Bauer Logistics Systems Inline transportation and storage systems for automatic gravure cylinder production lines, including cranes, shuttles, buffer storage, trolleys, storage racks, and input/output stations for press loading.
• Gravure Cylinder Lines Complete integrated gravure cylinder production lines combining K.Walter electroplating systems, Daetwyler cylinder machining (turning, milling, grinding, polishing), and Bauer automated transportation and storage, providing turnkey production solutions.
• Gravure Applications Solutions Application-specific gravure solutions for flexible packaging, tobacco packaging, decorative printing (wood grain, wallpaper, floor coverings, tissue and gift wrap), security features, and publication gravure printing.
• Embossing and Hot Stamping Solutions Rotary and flatbed embossing solutions using Digilas (Schepers) and Cellaxy (HELL) systems for packaging, security features, furniture, floor coverings and automotive interior decoration.
• Offset Printing Solutions Internal drum laser CTP systems (XPose! series) for thermal and UV offset plates, waterless offset, and XDrum! UV for Heidelberg Suprasetter integration; targets commercial offset printers including bank cards and security documents.
• Flexo and Letterpress Printing Solutions Relief printing solutions using PremiumSetter (HELL), MultiDX!, XPose! and XTurn! (Lüscher) for photopolymer plates, LAMS imaging, direct UV imaging, and elastomer direct fiber laser imaging.
• Screen Printing Solutions Solutions for flat and rotary screens using MultiDX! flatbed, XPose! UV internal drum, and JetScreen DX round CTP systems, targeting ceramics, glass, textiles, solar cells, displays and other industrial substrates.
• Dry Offset and Pad Printing Solutions Indirect printing solutions including pad printing using MultiDX! and Digilas systems, and dry offset for container printing using PremiumSetter technology, for metal drink cans, aerosol cans, polymer cups and tubes.
• Gravure Imaging Solutions Complete imaging solutions for gravure cylinders including electromechanical engraving (HelioKlischograph, Vision heads, XtremeEngraving, Hybrid Engraving), etching mask technology (LAMS), and direct laser engraving systems.

Quantifiable outcome

• High engraving frequencies of 8 and 12 kHz enable impressive uniform results in contone quality at high speeds
• +2 more outcomes

Segments9 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature10 records

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Market position

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Subsidiaries7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Heliograph Holding