The Klingele Paper & Packaging Group, an independent manufacturer of corrugated base paper and corrugated board packaging, is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.
Alfred Klingele, the grandfather of the current managing partner Dr Jan Klingele, founded the company on 21 April 1920 together with his brother-in-law Emil Holfelder as „Baden corrugated paper mill Klingele and Holfelder“ was founded. In 1936, the site of today's Remshalden headquarters was built. Today, the Klingele Group has production sites in ten countries on three continents.
Setting the course for new markets and business areas at an early stage
The Klingele Paper & Packaging Group owes its current strong position in the market above all to its Courage to make groundbreaking entrepreneurial decisions and its culture as a family business, characterised by innovative strength and long-term thinking. As early as the middle of the last century, Klingele ventured into new business areas and ventured abroad: in 1961, the company entered the paper business with the acquisition of the Paper mill in Weener, East Frisia; in the same decade, Klingele's first investments in Spain took it beyond Germany's borders.
Since then, Klingele has been extremely successful in its international activities: in 2006, the Blue Box Partners (BBP) alliance was founded together with three other European family businesses to supply pan-European customers from a single source. BBP is now present in 21 European countries, has 87 processing plants and eight paper mills and, with almost 9,800 employees, is one of the largest paper manufacturers in Europe. Top 3 in the industry in Europe.
Klingele has expanded over the last decade
In addition to Scandinavia, Spain and the UK, this also included less established but promising markets: in Mauritania, the packaging manufacturer operates two production sites that meet the growing demand for low-cost packaging, robust and sustainable packaging especially for the fish, food and beverage industry cover. In 2017, Klingele also invested in two corrugated cardboard plants and one folding carton plant in Cuba. Reforms there are aimed at modernising local operations - a unique opportunity for the Klingele Paper & Packaging Group to contribute its expertise in the long term.
In addition to its international commitment, Klingele has greatly diversified its range of products and services over the last 25 years in particular: Through its four German corrugated cardboard plants and the specialists in Wunsiedel and Villmar, the company offers the complete range of corrugated board packaging solutions - from large orders for retail, e-commerce and industry to speciality and design packaging in very small batch sizes. The range is complemented by consulting services in the area of packaging processes and machines, as well as logistics services, shipping materials and accessories.
Success drivers innovation, family culture, customer proximity - and sustainability
In order to stay successfully on course, Klingele launched an extensive innovation offensive at the turn of the millennium and has since invested a total of around 400 million euros, primarily in modern machinery and an efficient and sustainable energy supply: Today, biomass and refuse-derived fuel in particular, as well as photovoltaics, wind energy and biogas, make a significant contribution to the energy supply of Klingele's operations, supplemented by a whole range of measures to increase energy efficiency. In 2019, Klingele received the „World Corrugated Award“ as the world's most environmentally friendly company in its industry for its environmentally friendly and resource-saving strategy.
„We focus on long-term relationships with customers, employees and partners - and that pays off. What our customers also particularly appreciate about us is the quality of our advice and service and our flexibility when it comes to finding the best solution for the customer. At the same time, we have very stable teams and our employees stay with the company for an exceptionally long time. Ultimately, this also benefits everyone involved.“
Dr Jan Klingele, Klingele Paper & Packaging Group
On this basis, Klingele believes he is also well equipped for the future: „The climate protection debate and the frightening images of plastic waste in the sea have shaken everyone awake - and now the world is looking for environmentally friendly solutions to protect our planet,“ comments Dr Klingele. „With our sustainable, fully biodegradable products, which are made from a renewable and also largely recycled raw material, we are already making a very good contribution to this. We believe our industry is well equipped for a better ecological future. But this is also an incentive for us. In the future, we will be called upon even more than before to use technology, expertise and a great deal of passion to make our business models more sustainable. This will be a challenge for the next 100 years that we are looking forward to.
Source: Klingele Paper & Packaging Group
