W. Kohlhammer Druckerei

What W. Kohlhammer Druckerei does

W. Kohlhammer Druckerei GmbH + Co. KG is a Stuttgart-based, privately held German printing company founded in 1866. It operates as a full-service offset and digital printing house, running all production stages in-house from prepress and typesetting through offset and digital printing, finishing, and logistics. The company is structured as a German limited partnership (GmbH + Co. KG) under managing directors Steffen Franzisi and Leopold Freiherr von und zu Weiler, with 120–130 employees and a single production site in Stuttgart (Augsburger Straße 722, 70329 Stuttgart) plus a regional service office in Rastatt.

Its service portfolio is organized around two core customer-facing offerings—DAS BERATEN (consulting) and DAS DRUCKEN (printing)—supported by six in-house modules: typesetting/DTP, data management and prepress, digital printing, offset printing, finishing, and logistics/shipping. The technology stack includes Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 106 offset presses (up to 25 printing units, up to 18,000 sheets/hour), Screen Truepress Jet 520 and Konica Minolta digital presses (up to 7-color inline finishing), Polar N 137 AT cutting and CoboStack folding automation, and a 3,000 sqm high-bay warehouse. Quality is governed by DIN EN ISO 9001 and PSO/ISO 12647-2 certifications. A proprietary sustainable packaging innovation, K-WRAP©, replaces plastic shrink-wrap with paper and supports inline printing on the wrapper plus up to 6 inserts. Customer-facing digital infrastructure is provided through the Prinect customer portal for data transfer, approval, and job tracking.

Kohlhammer generates revenue through project-based print production contracts under custom quote-based pricing, with multi-year contract cadences and 100% delivery reliability commitments. It serves three primary verticals: publishers (magazines, books, catalogs, brochures), government authorities (forms, documentation, official publications), and industrial companies (catalogs, brochures, user manuals). The go-to-market is enterprise field sales with on-site consultation by specialized printing experts, complemented by the company website and organic search. The company operates primarily in southern Germany and the broader DACH region, with worldwide shipping capabilities for international clients.

Name

W. Kohlhammer Druckerei

Legal name

W. Kohlhammer Druckerei GmbH + Co. KG

Website

https://kohlhammerdruck.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1866

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

W. Kohlhammer Druckerei is a Stuttgart-based, family-influenced offset and digital printing company founded in 1866, serving publishers, government authorities, and industrial clients in the DACH region with integrated in-house production spanning prepress, printing, finishing, and logistics.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Commercial Printing Services

NAICS

Printing (32311)

SIC

Book Printing (2732)

akta.pro primary industry

Finishing & Post-Press Services (Cutting, Folding, Collating, Laminating, Foil, Emboss) (MPAJALAF)

Keywords

• Offset printing services
• Commercial printing production
• Sustainable print packaging
• Digital printing services
• Magazine catalog printing

Headquarters

HQ city

Stuttgart

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Print Production Services: Full-service printing including offset and digital printing, prepress services, finishing, and logistics. Customers include government authorities, publishers, and industrial clients. Revenue is generated through project-based printing contracts with delivery reliability guarantees.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

W. Kohlhammer Druckerei is a full-service offset and digital printing company providing integrated print production services from a single source. The portfolio spans consulting, typesetting, prepress data management, offset and digital printing, post-press finishing, and logistics/shipping, all delivered in-house from the Stuttgart production facility. The company also offers the proprietary K-WRAP© sustainable plastic-free paper packaging innovation for magazines and catalogs.

Product overview

W. Kohlhammer Druckerei is a full-service offset and digital printing company offering integrated print production services from a single source. Its portfolio spans consulting (DAS BERATEN) and printing (DAS DRUCKEN) as the core customer-facing services, supported by six in-house service modules: SATZ/Desktop-Publishing (typesetting and layout), Datenmanagement (data management/prepress), Digitaldruck (digital printing), Offsetdruck (offset printing), Weiterverarbeitung (finishing/post-press), and Logistik und Versand (logistics and shipping). The company also offers a proprietary sustainable packaging innovation called K-WRAP© for plastic-free paper packaging of print products, and a Quality & Environmental Management service. All services are delivered in-house from the Stuttgart location with approximately 120–130 employees.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• K-WRAP©: A sustainable and alternative packaging solution developed by Kohlhammer for packaging print products without plastic. K-WRAP© enables packaging print media in paper instead of plastic film, serving as an advertising platform while improving corporate image and meeting climate targets.

Products and services

• DAS BERATEN (Consulting) Consulting and advisory services delivered by on-site printing specialists who provide problem-solving expertise, cost-savings recommendations, optimal production routes, and process-security guarantees for publishers, government authorities, and industrial customers, supported by a dedicated back office.
• DAS DRUCKEN (Integrated Printing) Integrated offset and digital printing service delivered in-house across all production stages with continuous quality control on state-of-the-art machines, enabling faster reaction times, larger volumes, and optimized costs for publishers, government authorities, and industrial customers.
• SATZ (Typesetting & Desktop-Publishing) Prepress typesetting and desktop-publishing service including layout creation, image research, text-image integration, design, correction, editorial system connections, and complex graphic creation for industry and publishers, delivered as print-ready data.
• DATENMANAGEMENT (Data Management / Prepress) Digital prepress workflow and data management service that ensures fully automated print production, including customer data intake, web-based approval processes, color-accurate proof creation, and web shop and editorial system integrations.
• Digitaldruck (Digital Printing) Digital printing service using Screen Truepress Jet 520 and Konica Minolta C1250eP, C6100, and C12000 systems, capable of printing up to 7 colors with inline finishing, personalized printing, small runs, foil lamination, and address management.
• Offsetdruck (Offset Printing) Offset printing service using Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 106 machines with up to 8 colors across 25 printing units, reaching speeds up to 18,000 sheets per hour at format up to 75cm x 105cm, featuring InpressControl measurement, scented varnish, dispersion varnish, drip-off coating, and inline die-cutting.
• Weiterverarbeitung (Finishing) Post-press finishing service including folding, saddle and ring stitching, hotmelt and PUR binding, machine inserting of inserts and product samples, and addressing, supported by a Polar N 137 AT Pace cutting line, 5 folding machines with CoboStack robots, and barcode and image recognition systems to prevent version mix-ups.
• Logistik und Versand (Logistics and Shipping) Logistics and shipping service covering individual and bulk dispatch, 3,000 sqm high-bay warehousing, contract logistics, lettershop services (enveloping, franking, personalized mailings), and worldwide shipping with own delivery vehicles and express couriers including customs clearance.
• K-WRAP© Sustainable Paper Packaging Proprietary plastic-free paper packaging solution for print products such as magazines and catalogs, using roll-to-roll inkjet printing on the paper wrapper with inline insertion of up to 6 inserts and direct addressing, enabled by a co-developed packaging machine, providing additional advertising surface and supporting climate targets.

Quantifiable outcome

• 100% delivery reliability and trustworthiness guaranteed
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Feature4 records

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Bonifatius GmbH Druck | Buch | Verlag: German printing and publishing company combining offset printing with publishing operations for books and periodicals. Comparable in combining printing services with publisher customers, similar mid-market scale.
• optimal media GmbH: German full-service commercial printing company offering offset and digital printing, finishing, and logistics for publishers and industrial customers. Comparable in scale, vertical integration, and customer segments to Kohlhammer.
• Weiss-Druck GmbH & Co. KG: Mid-sized German commercial printer specializing in magazines, catalogs, and brochures with in-house prepress through shipping. Direct competitor in the German offset market serving publishers and industrial clients.
• L.N. Schaffrath GmbH: German full-service commercial printer offering offset, digital, and finishing services plus logistics for publishers and industrial clients. Comparable mid-size German printing peer.
• Graphischer Betrieb G. Luhn GmbH: German full-service commercial printer offering offset and digital printing with finishing and logistics for publishers and industrial clients. Comparable mid-size German printing peer with similar service breadth.
• Stark Druck GmbH + Co. KG: German offset and digital printing company based in Baden-W\u00fcrttemberg (same region as Kohlhammer) serving publishers, industry, and public-sector customers. Direct regional peer with similar full-service profile.
• Silber Druck GmbH & Co. KG: German commercial printing company with comparable offset and digital capabilities for books, magazines, and packaging. Similar mid-size full-service model and customer base to Kohlhammer.
• Druckhaus Waiblingen: German commercial printing house with offset and digital production for books, magazines, and catalogs. Direct competitor in the southern German print market with similar customer base.

Broad incumbents

• Elanders AB: Swedish-headquartered global printing and packaging group with full-service capabilities for publishers, industrial, and e-commerce customers. Broader geographic reach and scale than Kohlhammer, but directly comparable in offering.

Emerging players

• flyeralarm GmbH: German online-print pioneer with offset and digital printing serving SMB and B2B customers across Europe. Different go-to-market (online platform) but competes with Kohlhammer for digital print and short-run work.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 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 W. Kohlhammer Druckerei