ADVERTORIAL
Last man
STANDING
European manufacturer SI MASS is further consolidating its position as the leading provider of private label polypropylene (PP) products in the office supplies and stationery segments
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ven in declining paper-based categories such as filing, archiving and document storage, there will still be a demand for products for the foreseeable future. The advantage will go to those suppliers that achieve economies of scale, ensure good quality at the right price, have robust and reliable supply chains, and possess solid environmental and CSR credentials. In the area of PP supplies for office, home and school use, a leading player for private label products that ticks these boxes is SI MASS. The company – originally known as Loer & Schaefer – was founded in 1984 near the city of Paderborn in central Germany by Bruno Loer and Johannes Schaefer. The goal of the two entrepreneurs was to replace PVC with cheaper and more environmentally friendly PP. They achieved early success with a number of German supermarket and discount chains, mainly with their report covers and desk mats. Over the years, the manufacturer expanded its product ranges and developed international markets, thanks partly to several acquisitions. In 2020, the Loer family decided to exit the business, which led to second-generation brothers Benni and Jan Schaefer taking over the reins and rebranding the company as SI MASS. Today, SI MASS has a dominant position in the private label soft plastics category among mass retail customers. With annual revenue of around €40 million ($44 million), it supplies clients in markets as far afield as the US, Japan, New Zealand, Korea and Latin America. Its position has been strengthened by the recent acquisitions of GERA Folien in Germany and Poland-based
Inter-Folia, as the Schaefer brothers pursue their strategy of being the ‘last man standing’ in their product categories. OPI spoke to CEO Jan Schaefer to find out more about this strategy and what makes SI MASS tick. OPI: Jan, can you summarise your main production locations, what they produce and give an idea of their output? Jan Schaefer: We have four factories for PP stationery and office supplies. At our headquarters facilities near Paderborn, we produce report covers, clip files, desk mats, punched pockets, L folders and all kinds of book covers. The GERA Folien plant specialises in punched pockets and L folders, but is also equipped with machines for special orders or different product sizes. From here, for example, we supply customers in the US and Japan. Our entire production of indexes and dividers has been relocated to the city of Most in the Czech Republic. There, we make the full range of PP, manilla and mylar dividers. The latest acquisition – Inter-Folia in Lodz, Poland – adds further capacity for punched pockets, L folders and flat files. What’s special is that we extrude our own film and have recycling machines so we can reuse our own waste. In total, this provides us with the capacity to produce more than two billion punched pockets and L folders, 100 million report covers, and 250 million sheets for indexes and dividers a year. This gives you an idea of some of the core items. OPI: What are your key markets and where do you see the potential to expand?
