The German folding box industry is on a – slight – upward trend. This was reported by the FFI trade association during a press conference held recently in Frankfurt/Germany. Of note for folding box manufacturers: FFI is launching an international online carton databank in German and English.
By Dr. Bernhard Reichenbach
With production volume amounting to 856,885 t in the 2017 fiscal year, the German folding box industry increased its production volume by 1.7 % over the year prior. Production value grew during the same period by 2.1 % to EUR 1.861 bn. “This completely compensated for declines in the 2016 business year,” said Steffen Schnizer, speaker of the board for the folding box industry trade association Fachverband Faltschachtel-Industrie e. V. (FFI).
FFI member companies proved to be especially robust. With a slight increase in volume (+ 0.6 %), they were able to increase their production value by an impressive 2.9 %. The German folding box industry also recorded growth in profitability. Branch profits grew from 2,162 EUR/t produced in 2016 to 2,171 EUR/t in 2017. This corresponds to an increase of around 0.4 %.
Looking at the European region, the German folding box industry, which employs around 10,000 workers, is responsible for around one-fifth of European production volume. This is approximately twice as large as the corresponding industrial sector of the United Kingdom, France or Italy. With more than 60 companies and over 80 production sites, the FFI represents around two-thirds of the German folding box market.
In 2017, the German folding box industry benefited strongly from strong consumer sentiment amongst German consumers during positive economic development. “Overall, however, the sector has been experiencing a plateau since its all-time high in 2011,” remarked Steffen Schnizer. “The advancing europeanisation for bids and production is subjecting the folding box industry to enormous margin pressure. German locations are constantly reviewing their competitiveness with ongoing efficiency boosts and process optimisation. Advancing digitalisation and Industry 4.0 have become daily business in our industry.” However, the focus is not always on internal business optimisation. Numerous digital processes, such as the networking of branded companies and retailers with consumers, have already been implemented within folding box companies.
A new project by the FFI will be interesting for folding box and carton producers as well as branded companies. The association will start the implementation of an online databank in German and in English, which will contain all of the folding box cartons used in the industry along with their respective technical specifications and certificates.
Under the principle of “one record per supplier item per surface-related mass” the databank will make systematic and current technical information like bending strength, thickness, moisture content, whiteness, etc. available to the public. A search function for such technical criteria, as well as a combination thereof, also allows for a list compilation and comparison of products.
