German coffee maker Melitta Group plans to close its Cofresco flexible packaging operation in Minden, Germany and switch the household film, foil and bag and sack conversion capacity to Poland.
As part of a far reaching group reorganization and consolidation program, Melitta said in a May 7 announcement that it will concentrate its garbage bag business on its Cofresco division and shift the Minden work to a Polish sister plant at Brodnica by autumn 2017.
The “structural re-orientation” at Cofresco is designed to ensure long-term competitiveness, Melitta officials said.
Its packaging division, formed in 1996 through the merger of the plastic films businesses of Melitta and DowBrands, was a joint venture between the U.S.-based S.C. Johnson and Melitta until last year when the German firm bought Johnson's share. Cofresco has other European operations in Madrid, Moscow and France.
Another division to be affected by the Minden-based Melitta consolidation is the German firm WolfPVG which produces vacuum cleaner bags, plastic molded accessories and filters for small appliances. It makes non woven material and operates 40 injection molding machines up to 300 metric tons of clamping force at plants in Exter and Spenge in Germany.
To enhance international competitiveness, Melitta is reviewing site efficiency and intends to integrate the Exter operation into the production facilities at Spenge in a further consolidation move.
The reorganization results from a group-wide strategic review after Melitta admitted “group sales have stagnated in recent years and the entire group results are unsatisfactory.” Its answer was the newly developed ‘Melitta 2020' strategy setting out the group's long-term orientation with firm targets.
Last year, Melitta already carried out several cost reduction and efficiency measures, including business integration in North America and projects in information technology, procurement and administrative processes.
“We in the group management board have taken these important decisions because we are convinced that they are crucial to ensuring the long-term success of our family-owned company,” added Jero Bentz, general partner and member of the management board.
Melitta said it would devise and launch further projects in the coming months and business internationalization will play a significant role in the new strategy.
