Even with ‘peace’ declared – in some parts of the world, at least – we see a profitable future for Onberg, the new partnership between American-Israeli autonomous defence and security systems provider Ondas and HD Advanced Technologies.
That’s HD as in Heidelberg Druckmaschinen, or ‘printing machines’ for those of us who only speak German during DRUPA.
Recent years have seen the world’s largest press maker extending its activities outside core printing and packaging markets, initially with chargers for electric cars. This year, a new partnership takes it further into autonomous vehicles, with security and defence seen as growth markets.
Here, its strength has been the ability to quickly leverage expertise, existing industrial infrastructure, skilled personnel and manufacturing capabilities. The Onberg Autonomous Systems joint venture leverages existing Heidelberg infrastructure, particularly at the Brandenburg an der Havel site, which is to be expanded into a centre of excellence for drone defence and autonomous security systems. And with another partner, Vincorian, Heidelberg is developing and making energy control and distribution systems, as well as (these pictured) prototype autonomous UGVs (unmanned ground vehicle) and UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles), usable both in defence and civilian applications such as logistics and agriculture.
Quoted in the recently-published Heidelberg annual report, chief executive officer and interim chief financial officer Jürgen Otto explains why – having built one of the world’s most complex mechatronic systems for 175 years – Heidelberg is expanding into other industries. “Because we can,” he says. “The geopolitical turning point in Europe is currently creating a demand that we cannot and do not want to ignore.”
Another subsidiary, Amperfied is expanding in charging infrastructure, with projects for passenger cars and the growing electric trucks sector, and Heidelberg is also looking at other areas including 3D printing.