Düsseldorf, Germany — Hamburg, Germany-based plastics distributor and compounder Albis Plastic GmbH is going through a major restructuring plan, which will see the company separate its distribution and compounding units under a holding structure.
The move is part of a strategic growth plan to turn the Albis "big tanker ship into two highly efficient speedboats," said CEO Philip O. Krahn.
"This optimization program will give more focus, transparency and accountability to each core activity," Krahn explained.
The distribution arm will retain the name Albis, as the brand is highly associated with distribution and the activity forms 70 percent of the company's current operations.
Here the company will focus on "resharpening" the Albis brand as a leading distributor, handling "complexities" for its partners.
The compounding unit will create a highly focused major compounder with a capacity of more than 200,000 metric tons, across eight manufacturing sites in Europe, China and the United States.
The business, Krahn emphasized, will not be divested but instead will become an innovative, high-tech solution provider in the market.
"For those highly focused activities, you need different skill sets," the CEO added.
The separation process, according to Krahn, is expected to be complete by early second-quarter 2020. The company's strategic partners are aware and supportive of the decision.
"This is a strategic growth program and not a cost-orientated decision. We want to become even more excellent in what we do," Krahn added.
Horst Klink, former vice president of distribution at Albis, will head the new distribution unit. Ian Mills, former chief sales officer of the group, will lead the compounding business.
And this is not all from the German distributor.
The company posted 8 percent year-on-year higher sales of 1.1 billion euros last year, moving about half a million tonnes of plastics globally.
And this year has a been a good year so far, too. Albis won the distribution rights for the entire Eastman plastics portfolio in Poland and France, and it is about to announce another major distribution agreement with a big strategic partner in Europe.
Unfazed by the recent outcry over the sustainability of plastics, Krahn said his company provides a broad portfolio of sustainable and recycled-content products.
Featuring more than 25 products, Albis' sustainable solutions portfolio has recently added seven new products and includes some of its own-brand materials, such as the Altech range, with up to 100 percent sustainable content.
"Sustainable products and recycling, I could say, is part of our DNA. When we first founded the company, we started with recycled products, and they are still part of our portfolio," Krahn noted.
Over the past two years, Albis has further strengthened its focus on supplying recycled content materials to the market, filling the gaps by its "own material" wherever needed.
"We bought a U.S.-based company called Barnet [Polymers, the plastics recycling and compounding operations of William Barnet & Son LLC] in 2016, with operations in Europe. They are specialized in recycling nylon fiber and yarn waste," Krahn said, adding that the operation has now been integrated into Albis, helping it improve its sustainable materials portfolio.
