Edelmann: Customer proximity as a strategy for success

In 2013, Edelmann, a leading provider of high-quality and innovative packaging solutions made of cardboard and paper, celebrated the 100th anniversary of its company history: an impressive résumé of origins and tradition as the basis for innovation and the future. Today, five years later, the family-owned company has set further signs for a successful future.

The times into which Carl Edelmann Sr. was born were turbulent. Industrialisation changed everything that had gone before. A new Entrepreneurial spirit was characterised by virtues such as commitment and the will to develop. Carl Edelmann was strongly influenced by this. Born in 1869 in what is now Eislingen an der Fils as the son of a brewer, he initially learnt the trade of a book printer. He then attended a commercial college. He recognised that education was important; he wanted to achieve something, to create something new.

Becoming an entrepreneur with courage and vision

The decisive step followed in 1913: in the year when Henry Ford started production on the assembly line for the first time, when industrial production in the German Reich was growing, Carl Edelmann Sr. became an entrepreneur: for 83,000 Reichsmark - for comparison: a kilo of butter cost 2.74 Reichsmark at the time - he took over the Commercial printing Weller, whose owner had just passed away.

The First World War and the subsequent years of crisis challenged Carl Edelmann's entrepreneurial skills early on. However, he managed not only to maintain his young company, but also to expand it: With just twelve employees, he achieved an impressive turnover of over 137,000 Reichsmarks in the first year after the war.

Display

The entrepreneur's strength: he could print what was in demand, and the businessman recognised this with a sure instinct. His son Carl Jr, himself a trained businessman and printer and co-owner from 1923, was in no way inferior. The company printed emergency money, business stationery, postcards and, from 1924: Folding boxes.

New goals, new thinking

With this decision, the father and son team proved their market intuition: the company's development gained momentum, which was only slowed down to a limited extent by the Second World War. Even during these difficult years, the demand for packaging increased. And in 1945, fortunate circumstances helped the company to restart quickly: just three days before the official end of the war, the printing company received permission from the US military government to resume production, which had only been interrupted briefly.

The move to a larger company building signalled the beginning of a new era at the end of the 1950s. Carl Edelmann jun. appointed his sons-in-law Karl-Josef Ehrhart (1958), Manfred Weber (1961) and Joachim W. Dziallas (1973), as well as Paul Rau (1981) to the management. When Carl Edelmann Jr. died in 1977, the rapid transformation from a craft business to a medium-sized company with industrial production began.

Major challenges

Supermarkets were popular in Germany in the 1960s; packaging was transformed into Brand ambassadors. Edelmann recognised the signs of the times. The company developed from a simple folding carton printer into a producer of high-quality packaging for confectionery, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics brands.

A New thinking characterised the company. Machine investments were now planned strategically, quality control guaranteed consistent product quality and the new personnel policy focussed on more personal responsibility and continuous training. This was a major challenge, but with strong cohesion, Edelmann grew to become one of the pacesetters in its industry. In many respects, the company was a leader or even a pioneer: after the introduction of IT-based processes in 1975, it had the most efficient pre-press department among Europe's folding carton manufacturers.

Edelmann also set standards with its quality assurance system. In 1985, the Heidenheim-based company was one of the first in Germany to receive DIN ISO certification.

Internationally active

Incoming orders increased rapidly. By the end of the 1960s, three million folding cartons were being produced per day, which clearly showed the capacity limits in Heidenheim. Edelmann therefore strengthened its position in 1977 with the takeover of the Weilheim packaging printing company Wepack. The company also put out feelers internationally. Sales offices in Paris (1974), the USA (1985) and Great Britain (1989) contributed to the beginning Internationalisation of the customer business.

Thanks to the highest customer orientation and technological standards as well as its reliable quality, Edelmann has been able to survive even in difficult market phases. One of the strengths of the company's managers has always been the ability to recognise and meet the needs of the market. This strategic orientation was also consistently developed further under the subsequent managing directors, Joachim Lange and Dierk Schröder.

The acquisitions of Braun pharmaceutical printing in Bitterfeld (1997) and Wesche in Norderstedt (2005) paved the way for Edelmann's market leadership in the Pharmaceutical packaging.

With the acquisition of La Spic in Pontoise, France (2003), the company not only expanded its cosmetics division. It was also the starting point for the successful development of the Heidenheim-based packaging printing company into an international group of companies.

„Following the recent signing of a joint venture with MK Printpack, Mumbai (India), the Edelmann Group will have five production sites on the subcontinent from 2018. This once again demonstrates our corporate goal of always being available in the immediate vicinity of our globally active customers,“ emphasises Oliver Bruns, who has been Chairman of the Edelmann Management Board since October 2017.

... successful worldwide

Since 2002, the company management has consistently pursued this path. Today, the company is represented in all growth markets from Latin America and Eastern Europe to Asia and the USA with its own production facilities. Even though folding cartons are still the core business, Edelmann has also become an important supplier for its customers. System partner has become. Packaging, package inserts, labels, product supplements and applications - Edelmann organises and brings all of this together, providing the customer with everything from a single source.

Today, around 2,800 employees of the internationally active group of companies produce 4.5 billion packs and more than one billion leaflets. Turnover in the 2017 financial year, which has just ended, totalled more than 300 million euros. However, the success story is not over yet.

[infotext icon]Folding cartons, rigid boxes and package inserts are now produced at seven domestic and twelve foreign locations for the markets Health Care, Beauty Care and Consumer Brands developed, produced and distributed. Being close to its globally active customers is at the centre of the long-established company's success strategy.

Packaging for the health care industry

The services provided by the system supplier Edelmann include the development, design and production of secondary packaging with acoustic, optical and visual effects and packaging to increase the customer's perception of the product. Patient compliance highest standards.

Furthermore, the requirements of the Serialisation of pharmaceutical packaging for the markets of the EU, Russia, the USA, Saudi Arabia, China, Korea and Brazil, which the company fulfils as a solution provider for its customers. And it is the unique safety features developed - Tamper Verification Features - as well as track-and-trace solutions that are winning over the healthcare industry worldwide.

Packaging for the beauty care industry

Packaging in the Beauty Care market segment is part of a multi-sensory world. Haptic realisations make the brand tangible. In the design of packaging for cosmetic products and perfumes, matt and gloss varnishes are convincing in their juxtaposition, but also in their interaction. They emphasise surfaces and accentuate lettering. Mother-of-pearl lacquers and colours play with integrated metallic pigments. In the light, graphic elements and typography are given a particularly elegant accentuation. UV glitter varnish, on the other hand, provides glamour that you can even feel.

The trend towards customised products with a batch size of 1 continues unabated. Marketing/Packaging 4.0 are the magic words that inspire brands large and small. The focus is on digital printing technologies: addressing consumers personally makes the cash registers ring.

Gift boxes are a central approach for themed marketing in the beauty care industry. Today, the Edelmann Group has production lines that not only enable the manufacture of such rigid boxes (design, printing, laminating, die-cutting, gluing), but also their assembly with the products (packaging). And these are usually several of one brand, with additional leaflets and other add-ons.

Packaging for consumer goods

Attracting attention at any price is the requirement for packaging for fast-moving consumer goods at the PoS. The shape of the packaging, its graphic design, printing and finishing are decisive factors.

Edelmann supports brands and retailers from the launch to the relaunch of products. Unmistakable shapes, convenience and additional functions for a more extensive product range. Easy handling are the focus of the consultation. Edelmann's processes fulfil the high demands of consumer brands.

The Edelmann Group supports the staging of the brand worlds with leaflets, QR codes make product information accessible via smartphone, and the tools for Augmented Reality can be found more and more frequently on the company's international packaging solutions.