If you want to be one of the big players in the logistics sector today and work for well-known brand manufacturers, you have to be able to do more than just „pack parcels“. The demands on a modern packaging service provider have changed dramatically in recent years. No company knows this better than the Packservice Group from Karlsruhe. This year, the company is celebrating its 40th anniversary.
Packing service celebrates anniversary
It all begins in 1980. Paul Spiering, then head of the warehouse of a mail order company, has the right instinct and founds Packservice. At the time, nobody was talking about outsourcing, co-packing or even digitalisation. However, today's senior manager has recognised that there is a need for Outsourcing of packaging services to a professional partner. At the first location in Zeppelinstraße in Karlsruhe, catalogue products for large mail order companies such as Heine and Otto are packaged. Three years later, the company wins Major brand manufacturers as customers, including regional manufacturers such as UHU and the cosmetics group L'Oréal. Two companies that the Packservice Group still counts among its customers today.
Further locations are established in Bühl and Pforzheim in 1990. The new customers include printers and publishers as well as major players in the textile industry. Packservice still handles textile processing for major fashion manufacturers at the Pforzheim site today.
„I remember a very hot summer when all the short-sleeved shirts from a German textile manufacturer were sold out. That summer, our employees converted shirts from long-sleeved to short-sleeved. Of course, this order came at short notice and we had to fulfil it quickly - but that's exactly what our customers still demand today: a reliable partner, who can also take over in the event of a bottleneck.“ Ralph Spiering, Managing Partner of the Packservice Group
Generational change ensures expansion
Ralph Spiering, the son of the company founder, takes over the management of the future Packservice Group in 1996 and becomes the sole shareholder in 2001. With the Foundation of own GmbH profit centre the course for Further development and growth. At the beginning of the new millennium, he brings reinforcements into the management team. Oliver Fischer (Operational Managing Director Germany since 2001) and Joachim Kratschmayr (Sales Director from 2001, Operational Managing Director Austria since 2007) join the company in 2001. Together with this duo, Spiering initiates internationalisation.
Packing service expands to Austria in 2002 and founds the first branch in Vienna under the management of Joachim Kratschmayr; in 2006, another location is opened in Linz, Austria. „The first products to be packaged in Austria were Inzersdorfer sugar cans,“ recalls Kratschmayr. „We started from scratch back then, we didn't even have a proper hall, but we had the packaging service expertise with us. This experience, coupled with a small, effective team, quickly brought us our first orders. Our first customers included companies such as Bacardi and Sony. Today, we are the largest co-packer in Austria.“
Campus concept a resounding success
By the end of the 2000s, new locations had also been established in Germany. In 2007 in Gütersloh and Unna, in 2008 in Malsch and in 2009 in Hamburg. By the time Packservice celebrates its 30th anniversary, the Packservice Group's customers already include the best-known brands from the most important industries.
As a strong Partner of well-known logistics companies such as Dachser and Schachinger, the company has made a name for itself. And not least thanks to the Campus model. The concept of „going where the goods are“ is well received by customers and has proven itself to this day.
Producing plannable promotions in stock is no longer a realisable luxury for manufacturers today, because Marketing campaigns must be implemented at short notice. For us, this means that we have to fulfil many orders quickly and in smaller batch sizes,“ says Oliver Fischer. Thanks to the campus concept, the finished goods can be passed on to the logistics provider without any loss of time. Changes to orders are handled flexibly, and even tightly scheduled campaigns can be completed on time.
Growth and portfolio expansion
Additional specialist and management staff, greater efficiency through machinery and IT, among other things, and the expansion of expertise, e.g. in packaging development, will strengthen the group of companies in the coming years. 2012 Packservice enters the Swiss market in Switzerland. A year later, a further location in Switzerland is added following the acquisition of a company. Growth also continues in Germany, with locations in Langenau and Bischofsheim, among others.
The head office is also expanded and Lutz Häring (with Packservice since 2003) is appointed Managing Director of Packservice PS Marketing GmbH in 2015. „Growth was and is never an end in itself at Packservice. Rather, our constant expansion is confirmation that we are doing our job well. And it is also a way of becoming more independent of individual customers, regions, brands or sectors,“ emphasises Ralph Spiering.
The new role of the co-packer
Packservice grows with the demands of the market. In addition to the classic packaging activities, the topic of Packaging development is one of Packservice's special services. Packservice has been developing high-quality packaging solutions for its customers for several years. Packaging for PoS displays, gift packaging and advent calendars. All process steps are coordinated by the co-packer, from the purchase of packaging materials to packaging and handover to the logistics provider. „Packservice doesn't wait for the customer to request a special packaging solution, but takes action itself,“ says Ralph Spiering.
The strategic expansion of the existing business is an important success factor for Packservice, says Oliver Fischer: „Our product portfolio is not static. We are continuously expanding our offering along the supply chain. A few years ago, for example, we realised that our customers were looking for a High demand for customised outer packaging exists. Until now, we have had to purchase these ‚brown goods‘ externally from various suppliers. Short-term deliveries and ‚just in time‘ production were rarely possible. After extensive research and the selection of the right personnel, we FPS Flexpack GmbH was founded in 2017. Today, our subsidiary supplies almost all of our units with packaging materials and cardboard packaging and also has a broad customer base beyond the region.“
Investments that pay off
Long-term partnerships are a success factor for Packservice. Despite the tough competition in the logistics sector, many customers have remained loyal to the company for many years. This is not least because Packservice is systematically up to date and has invested heavily in digitalisation in recent years. The company is in a position to provide brand owners with valuable Real-time data on order processing and stock levels to deliver.
This is made possible by the use of modern ERP systems. Customers benefit from larger production capacities, faster delivery times, the highest quality standards and seamless traceability. The „accolade“ came in 2019, when Packservice Inhouse became a co-packer for L'Oréal. Since then, 150 employees have been working on an 8,300 square metre site in Muggensturm near Rastatt.
Digitalisation and sustainability at Packservice
„We have no doubt Two megatrendsDigitalisation and sustainability. In the packaging industry, we need to address the second topic in particular with regard to the reduction of material, information on the packaging or an improved circular economy,“ says the owner.
For the active design of packaging solutions, Packservice has introduced the Loopos brand, which stands for Sustainable PoS solutions stands. The first development is a reusable plastic display that can be positioned in a visually appealing way in just a few simple steps. The reusable display was developed in collaboration with Polymer Logistics and supports the presentation of goods, particularly in secondary placement.
„We assume that all partners along the value chain will produce more sustainably in the coming years. With Loopos, we are supporting the circular economy, but we are also focusing on expanding our expertise in packaging development and the use of resource-saving materials,“ says Joachim Kratschmayr, who has already introduced Loopos to the Austrian market.
A look into the future
Digitalisation and becoming sustainable Packing service in the future as well. „On the company's 50th anniversary, we want to be able to say about ourselves: Packservice is a company that has grown flexibly and dynamically in response to changes in the market, with fresh, technically skilled managers and a motivated, large workforce at a large number of locations within the DACH region and Europe,“ says Ralph Spiering.
[infotext icon]Packservice sees itself as a co-packer in the role of innovation leader. By focussing on new services and business models, the company also plans to tackle topics such as robotics in order to support the „busy hands“. To this end, the company is working closely with universities and research institutes. The vision is to be the first co-packer to use a cobot[/infotext].
