Tradition and a spirit of innovation, a down-to-earth approach and cutting-edge technology: the values and enthusiasm with which Alfred Remmele, a trained dairyman, founded his own company in 1964 are still at work at Südpack today. Over the past five decades, the company, headquartered in Ochsenhausen, Swabia, has developed into one of the leading international film manufacturers for food and medical packaging.
Today, 1,300 employees work for Südpack worldwide in production, sales and product development. The latter continues to play a central role at the packaging specialist: The continuous development of new products is the second generation of the family-run medium-sized company. Even today, every product development begins with the moment someone gets excited about a new idea.
Hand in hand into independence
The first bag machine is in the garage. Alfred Remmele was working in sales for a packaging and film manufacturer in 1964 when he was transferred to the company headquarters in Hamburg. This was a great career opportunity, but Alfred Remmele decided to stay in Ochsenhausen, Swabia, at the insistence of his wife. There, he set up his own business and developed the following in his garage at home Foil bags, in which cheese can mature thanks to controlled gas exchange. His wife takes over the distribution of the first products and the bookkeeping.
Alfred Remmele's development was in tune with the times: supermarkets had been establishing themselves in Germany since the early 1950s. With the new self-service offering, the demand for suitable Packaging solutions for fresh food like sausage and cheese. At the same time, the inventor and forward thinker Remmele demonstrates values that will characterise the company in its development into one of the leading film manufacturers in Europe: A down-to-earth attitude, innovative strength and high standards for itself and the product.
Enthusiasm for films runs in the family
These values do not change as Südpack grows from a one-man business to a leading film manufacturer. High standards result in well-balanced products that are often one step ahead of the competition and offer consumers added value at home. Alfred Remmele passes on his enthusiasm for sensible packaging solutions to more than just his employees. His children Johannes and Carolin cannot escape the attraction of ingenious films either.
„The company has always been at the centre of our family,“ explains Johannes Remmele, today Managing Partner of Südpack. „What kind of packaging can films be used for and how can we make possible what is not yet possible today? These are the questions my father has always asked himself. He passed on to us his deep interest in technologies and developments that push the boundaries of what is possible and offer the market a completely new solution.“
His sister Carolin Grimbacher, also managing partner, is responsible for development and application technology. She and her team are working, for example, on saving micrometres, sealing top films onto PET trays and on technologies that make films resealable.
Travelling on international markets
The film experts have long looked beyond Ochsenhausen and the German market. Accordingly, the founding of foreign branches in the UK and Switzerland at the end of the 1970s are important milestones in the company's history. The founding of the subsidiary Ecoform in Erlenmoos, which specialises in Rigid and flexible films (1988) and CDP Laboratories in Coulmer, France (1989) have strengthened the company's own portfolio and its influence on the market.
Since 2005, the latter have been producing under the name Südpack Medica Film packaging for the medical sector manufacture. Südpack can also serve new markets directly with foreign production sites. In 2002, the Ticino-based company Piciotto becomes part of the Group and, as Südpack Bioggio, becomes the centre for Intaglio printing. In 2015, Südpack takes over what is now the Kłobuck plant in Poland and develops it into a centre for Flexo printing from.
Successful with market-orientated innovations
The growing Südpack workforce at all locations is constantly driving the development of new products. These continue to provide decisive impetus for the packaging industry. Since the first cheese maturing bags developed by Alfred Remmele, the product portfolio has steadily expanded. Today, the range of film and printing processes offered to customers is a decisive advantage over the competition.
With a spirit of invention, employees at the Extrusion technology centre in combination with the application technology centre in Ochsenhausen are developing new films. Since the beginning of 2016, they have been able to reproduce and test all common manufacturing processes as realistically as possible using the multiXtrusion system. The development department can test new ideas at short notice and quickly bring them to market maturity.
„Facilities like multiXtrusion give us the freedom to test and vary new ideas together with our customers. We can adjust every lever and develop the idea further. The end result is a product that not only fulfils our high standards, but also inspires us,“ explains. The developers at Südpack always have the right instinct and anticipate the needs of the market before they arise. In the process Focus on sensible packaging.
Similar to the products from Südpack's early days, these were in tune with the times and the tastes of the market. In the nineties, Südpack focussed on rigid films and film solutions with High barrier, to meet the market's increased quality requirements for the protective properties of films. At the turn of the millennium, convenience is increasingly taking centre stage for end consumers. Südpack once again scores with the right range of products, including multi-layer composite films, reclosures and modified atmosphere packaging (MAP).
Employees and training
The company's enthusiasm for new ideas and packaging solutions is not only shared by the Remmele / Grimbacher managing families, but also by the employees, some of whom have been working for Südpack for decades and are experts in their fields. They pass on their interest in technology and the continuous improvement of processes to new employees as part of the promotion of young talent. The good reputation pays off: The family-owned company currently employs 99 trainees and dual students in nine professions and eight study programmes.
Family business takes responsibility
A high standard for products and the company's own contribution to them runs like a red thread through the company's history. These high expectations are Great sense of responsibility to the side. This is evident not only in production and in the development of new ideas, but also in our approach to sustainability.
„Sustainability is a holistic concept for us. For example, we are improving the environmental footprint of our products through ever thinner films and optimised production processes. In addition, we also want to promote the sustainability of our company with measures in the areas of corporate and employee development as well as health protection and occupational safety,“ explains Johannes Remmele.
The corresponding measures and the ambitious targets for the coming years are documented in a biennial Sustainability report. This is based on the latest guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). It makes both Südpack's previous successes in the area of sustainability and its ambitious goals for the coming years transparent.
Films for the future
„Turning tradition into innovation“ is the motto of the South Swabian group of companies. The success of the last five decades serves as an incentive, but the packaging specialists are looking to the future. The most recent turnover was over 367 million euros. As a family business that combines traditional values such as down-to-earthness and reliability with innovation, Südpack is ready for the future.
For a good year now, the printing division has been complemented by a Digital printing system the previous portfolio of flexo and gravure printing. It enables the management to fulfil customer requests for flexibility, small batches can be printed quickly and in the usual Südpack quality.
In addition, the company's employees are working on a Webshop for digital printing, which will be online from March. In the near future, customers will be able to select film types via recommendations, upload designs and send the finished order to the printing system via interfaces. In this way, the Ochsenhausen-based company is once again demonstrating its flair for market developments.
