Contrary to the slump in the German mechanical engineering industry reported by the German Engineering Federation VDMA, HERMA's corresponding division with labeling machines and systems is developing very positively. An industry order decline of around 8 percent was offset by an increase in sales of a good 6 percent for the HERMA Machines division in 2024 to 62.9 million euros. It is thus continuing to grow in line with a stable long-term trend - primarily thanks to new market and customer segments as well as increased international activities. "We continued to grow in the first quarter of 2025," explains HERMA Division Manager Martin Kühl. "In the medium term, we are focusing on technologies that complement our core labeling function, for example on robotic solutions. In addition, there are more demanding labeling tasks in numerous packaging and product segments, some of which are new. And this in newly developed Asian, American and Middle Eastern markets." One of the division's strengths is its ability to provide specialist expertise in markets with corresponding demand and thus be close to the customer. The mechanical engineering subsidiary in the USA, for example, specializes in pharmaceutical solutions, while the one in the UK focuses on food applications and special machines. The French site is particularly active in the cosmetics market, and in Austria the focus is on print & apply applications for greater logistics efficiency.
Investments in technology and internationalization
Due to the good sales situation, the HERMA division is also one of only 15 percent of companies in the mechanical engineering sector that currently want to expand their core workforce. "We will continue to strengthen ourselves in the core areas of new technologies and internationalization of the division in order to continue to convince our customers of HERMA in the future. In addition to the jobs that we are generally creating due to our growth, we are also looking to strengthen our service team in particular," emphasizes Martin Kühl. The 50,000th HERMA labeler rolled off the production line in 2024. "This also creates higher demand for customized service packages, preventive maintenance and clever online maintenance modules."
For 2025 as a whole, the division is aiming for a further significant increase in sales and once again wants to decouple itself from the forecast weak industry sales.
