BOX ı 2019 108 No. Cooperation EDITORIAL GDPR DEAR READER Dear Sir/Madam, The GDPR of 25.05.2018 requires us to ask your permis- sion to continue to send you our informative customer magazine, Model Box. If we do not hear from you, we will assume that we have your consent and will continue to send Model Box. If you no longer wish to receive the magazine, please notify your personal Model customer advisor. Thank you for your cooperation. Wouldn’t we all like to experience more «win- win situations»? Collaborations and alliances Best regards, that stimulate and accelerate joint ventures with The Model Box editorial team optimum results? And wherever possible on both a large and small scale, in both a private and professional sphere. Andreas Rufer Head of Papertrading Between individuals and entire businesses. It all Model Group sounds so simple. But let’s be honest, is it really that easy? Why don’t win-win situations come more natu- Win-win situations come about only when ever- rally to us? I think that although the benefits of yone agrees on the advantages and economic 3 Editorial cooperation are usually identified from the out- benefit of cooperating, and works to remove any 4 CEO Report set, too little thought is given to obstacles or potential obstacles or pitfalls. This is how to cre- 5 Annual Report Switzerland pitfalls. ate synergies, boost efficiency and achieve the 6 Annual Report Czech Republic desired results. 7 Annual Report Germany The foundation for successful joint working is 8 Annual Report Poland where two or more people or parties strive To generate more win-win situations, we then 9 Certification Berka/Werra towards the same, well-defined goal. The crucial need to learn to sometimes hold back a little. 10 The perfect flute – Model Excellence thing here is that everyone involved is pulling This holds true both for the private sphere and 12 Organisation 2019 together in the same direction! Sometimes one for joint company ventures. 14 Our locations person pulls harder, another time it’s someone 18 Investments 2018 else’s turn. Other important keystones of suc- On that note, let’s pull together many more suc- 20 Model Tec – innovative cooperation cess are mutual trust and courage, as well as cessful collaborations to achieve more win-win 22 Added value through outsourcing open and straightforward communication. Pati- situations! 24 Model Logistik GmbH ence and clearly defined rules and behaviour 26 Cosmetics Packaging – MUGLER Men’s also come in useful. Self-interest, however, has Fragrance no place here at all! Recognising this, accepting 28 Model Young Package 2019 it and then actually putting it into practice – these 30 Interview – Prof. Samuel Schabel are the prerequisites for active alliances. Andreas Rufer 35 Imprint 3 CEO REPORT ANNUAL REPORT VALUE CREATION The foundation for future generations encounter something that is free we end up pay- The previous year was in itself a good case in Switzerland move us forward a significant step. The impres- ing for it later and at such a huge cost that we point for price setting: the success of our packa- sion made by our packaging plants in Weinfel- should have done without it in the first place. It’s ging solutions, including in the growing e-com- High employment, accompanied by growing den, Moudon and Au was inconclusive. Despite not just the price that can be off, as we have seen merce sector, made paper as a raw material so anxiety about the approaching end to the econo- great efforts on the part of the staff, these plants for years with the price of money. Price and value scarce that prices shot up and, ironically, sales mic boom, shaped the first two quarters of 2018. reported difficulty in implementing the neces- can also be poles apart. Take the price per square successes curtailed the economic success of This was behind the first major stock market sary price adjustments to the full extent. The in- metre of forest, which at about CHF 5/m2 in no packaging producers significantly. Since paper correction that took place in February despite troduction of SAP in our corrugated board plant way reflects the value of the trees. With their production cannot be increased in the short term the good operating results of many Swiss busi- in Moudon complicated matters further, as it led, oxygen production, they generate a much grea- – every hour of every day of the entire year is nesses. The strengthening of the euro from mid- inter alia, to higher costs for external warehousing ter added value across their lifespan. The part our already completely wrapped up – price remains year onwards made for a very good year overall and logistics. Although Model Corrugated Board industry plays in the smooth running of the eco- the only variable and reacts disproportionately. for Model AG. is the market leader in Switzerland with its two nomic cycle and to productivity gains in packing, Customers do not want to accept this and res- plants, we observe time and again (particularly dispatch, storage, retrieval, protection, communi- pond with frustration, leaving everyone disgrunt- The main factors in this success in Switzerland compared with Model affiliates located abroad) cation, distribution, collection of waste material led except the paper producers. Anyone who were our two paper factories Aarepapier and that with the above-average proportion of em- and recycling is also greater than the true price begrudges them this should take a look at the Thurpapier, These continued the successful pro- ployees with other native languages, bilingua- paid. Anyone with high time preference will be capital market, where they are relentlessly pu- gress they started back in 2017 and were sup- lism is a challenge. By the same token, it is clear bothered by this, while those with lower time nished – too capital-intensive, dividends too ported in this by demand-related paper prices that Model AG would not exist at all without its preference take comfort from prices shifting insecure, too volatile, too unpredictable. Hence, and the favourable exchange rate development. valuable foreign workers. We are also pleased towards value in the long term. Just do not die the sector remains the preserve of a surprising We were able to increase the volume of that there was no drop in the number of replace- along the way or else the benefit is lost for ever- number of medium-sized businesses. We conti- paper produced from 388,600 t to 399,600 t. ments in key positions, something that is not a yone. Even if John Maynard Keynes was right nue to accept this challenge, to connect the links However, we experienced a setback with our given in times of low unemployment. The num- when he said that we are all dead in the long run, in the value chain in the most helpful way and two major innovation projects, which hindered ber of employees in Switzerland remained level Daniel Model I feel I must counter that businesses can outlive to secure the cycle despite an imminent CHF rather than helped progress last year and still in the reporting year; i.e. new arrivals and depar- Elisabeth Model CEO and Chairman COO Switzerland people. Which is why they should be encouraged currency risk. represent a challenge. Specifically in terms of tures more or less balanced each other out. Model Group to prevent death through diligence (Latin: indus- cycles and sustainability, these projects should tria), rigour and reinvestment to become a foun- Daniel Model Of the CHF 54.3 million invested in total in the Corrugated board continues to grow in the dation for future generations as well. Model Group during 2018, CHF 13.5 million was packaging market compared with other materi- channelled into projects in Switzerland. In 2019, als. As an organic fibre material, paper occurred we will continue to work uninterrupted on further naturally even before industrial manufacturing, improving our market performance. and so the cycle was ingrained before people Sales by market in % began to put it into actual practice. Few other With many thanks for your confidence and objects are handled as often as packaging, and 14,1 Benelux 4,9 loyalty, 15,1 cardboard or corrugated board are pleasant to Model Group in figures 2018 2017 2016 Poland Czech the touch. Yet however convincing these bene- 8,6 France 4,0 Elisabeth Model Consolidated sales in million CHF 990,6 915,1 874,2 Republic fits are now, development processes rarely in- Others crease uninterrupted given that the human pro- Investment in million CHF 54,3 86 88,1 Slovakia 2,0 cess of realisation is a long and winding path. Corrugated board production in million m2 1’349 1’361 1’297 17,7 Another material appears at a lower price and Switzerland Croatia 1,9 2 straight away it’s no longer a case of continuous Litho-laminated corr. board packaging in million m 48,8 42,5 45,2 growth, but instead of holding out, persevering, Cardboard packaging in tonnes 21’400 22’500 24’000 Austria 0,8 surviving until – at very best – the deceptively Container board production in tonnes 399’600 388’600 383’600 30,8 cheap price yields to a more realistic overall cost Ukraine 0,1 Germany analysis. There is no free lunch, so when we Average headcount 4’320 4’285 4’217 4 5 ANNUAL REPORT Czech Republic 2.5 %, an all-time low in the regions in which we Germany ductive continuous systems in Europe. In the operate. On the one hand, we are thriving in area of further processing, a new Bahmüller fol- Last year I wrote here about 2017 as an anniver- terms of good workforce stability and relatively With paper prices soaring, 2018 was defined at der-gluer has been added to our machinery.