Duni
1
Procurement & Supply Chain
Duni – GoodFoodMood D
uni Group is a market leader in attractive, sustainable, and convenient products for table setting and take-away. The Group markets and sells two brands, Duni and BioPak, which are represented in more than 40 markets. Duni Group has some 2,400 employees in 24 countries, headquarters in Malmö and production units in Sweden, Germany, Poland, New Zealand, and Thailand. Duni Director of Procurement and Value Chain, Wilbert Baerwaldt discusses the important role of the procurement function in continuing to drive the sustainability agenda. Wilbert, Director of Procurement and Value Chain. How is your role positioned within the group and what do your responsibilities cover? As director procurement and value chain I have two main responsibilities within the group. Firstly, the role assumes responsibility for all procurement activity connected to our four European factories. This includes tissue, chemicals, packaging materials, equipment. Secondly, the role assures that we have the right amount of capacity available for our internal production of napkins and table covers.
Sometimes this requires us to buy tissue in the market, and sometimes there is a need to sell excess production capacity into the market. As an individual I am deeply committed to improving my standing in the world. Together with many other people, I am concerned that if we do not develop a sustainable way of living, we will all face future ramifications. In my role as director procurement and value chain I am directly able to impact Duni’s effect on the environment and our customers. This is a humbling responsibility. Duni is very conscious of its role as a key corporate citizen and adheres to strong principles in regard to the environmental footprint and legacy of its products. What role does the procurement function play in assisting the business towards it sustainability goals? Procurement has a key role to play to meet the goals of our sustainability programs. Whether this is related to the use of green electricity in the shape of wind, water and solar electricity, the transition to Biofuel or the search for new sustainable packaging materials, the department is heavily
The Business Profile
Wilbert Baerwaldt
3
Procurement & Supply Chain involved in these activities. Typically, our marketing organization will develop ideas and products. Accordingly, procurement is going out to our networks to assess what options exist. Sometimes it works the other way around, where we make proposals to our marketing department. The journey to becoming a more sustainable business that continues to show positive growth is not an easy one. What challenges have you faced as a procurement function so far on this journey and how have you been able to find workable solutions around any such issues? Whilst we search for requested solutions, we are facing many challenges. Three types of challenges prevail. Firstly, a sustainable solution exists, but supply capacity is limited. We have several ongoing discussions where we do not have access
“
Whilst we search for requested solutions, we are facing many challenges
to the total capacity that is required. Secondly, there is a need for certain product characteristics, but these articles do not yet exist. We then either need to start a development project with selected partners or we need to re-define our need. Thirdly, there are solutions in the market, but these require massive investments on our side. At this stage we are evaluating the use of paper as packaging material instead of Polypropylene. In this area there are solutions, but all of our machines require a rebuild. The costs associated with these investments cannot be recovered yet from our customers. What do you foresee as the greatest pressures to becoming a fully sustainable procurement in the coming years? There are thousands of organisations thinking about ways to develop a more sustainable world, with most ideas proving not to be sustainable against a backdrop of those that are. Within the procurement department we are currently running at everything as we do not know which idea will prove to be successful. This means there is a lot of pressure to find suppliers to develop discussions and ideas. At the same time, legislation is developing in parallel. Different countries define sustainability in different ways. The customers of Duni are global and as such we want to develop global product ranges. When legislation is developing in different directions, this poses other challenges for us as a company and for our procurement team specifically. So, apart from associated investments, access to available capacities and the
The Business Profile
5
development of the right article, we have thousands of ideas and legislations that are not developing in a synchronized manner. This will create a turbulent and challenging environment for the years to come.
WATER-BASED PRINTING INKS FOR TABLE DECORATION PRODUCTS BY FOLLMANN. + Made in Germany + Brilliant colours, excellent adhesion, easy re-emulsification, fast drying
+ Ready-to-use ink system (single-component)
+ Suitable for short-term, direct food contact
+ Suitable for compostability regarding DIN EN 13432
+ High abrasion resistance as per DIN 54607
+ Compliant with paA requirements
+ VOC-free
printinginks@follmann.com www.follmann.com
Covid-19 has had a major impact on a significant portion of your business. Has this also had a detrimental effect on the progress you have been able to make towards sustainability goals? Yes and no, on the one hand we have people available now to evaluate working with different materials and spending time on developing working routines. In times of high workloads, it is difficult to release people for development projects. This has been an advantage during this period. We have been able to make significant progress in a number of different solutions for our markets. These relate for instance to energy and packaging. On the other hand, many companies throughout Europe who we work with have employees on reduced working hours or worse, had to lay off people. This results in prolonged duration of development projects. Overall, we are so far satisfied with the progress we have been able to make. As true market leader Duni has been able to innovate during these pressing times and create new products that have added significant value to your portfolio. Did procurement play a role in the development of these products? Over the recent turbulent months, we have developed articles in order to meet certain specific demands from the market. Due
ABOUT FOLLMANN to the issues described earlier, we have not been able to develop new articles for long term sales unfortunately. However, we have products in the development pipeline that will be interesting, allowing us to move closer to nature and sustainability. Unfortunately, I am not able to speak about these just yet. However, we are in the phase of testing and results look very promising. During this period of Covid we have been able to make significant progress in developing new articles and I believe that in the period closer to 2022, we will see some interesting new product launches. The desire to drive sustainability cannot just be an internal affair if a business is to succeed in its ambitions. Suppliers will inevitably play a significant role in the overall success. Do you work strategically with suppliers to drive innovation and sustainability? How important is supplier buy in to your overall philosophy? Our partners in our network play a key role in our success! Without their commitment, knowledge, time, and ideas we would not be able to be successful in our market and bring GoodFoodMood to life! During the last quarter we signed different cooperation agreements in order to secure the development of new articles and applications. The strength of our group is that we are partly vertically integrated, and we are sitting on significant competence with respect to materials and colours. However, we also have a significant base of suppliers all over the world who support us with products and ideas in those areas where we are not so strong.
Tradition and quality made in Germany With ground-breaking speciality chemicals for functionality and design, Follmann has helped its customers achieve their objectives since 1977: by means of our products’ qualities and as a fair and reliable international partner. As an independent family-owned company, Follmann is flexible within the market, and ground-breaking in numerous industries for carrying a wide range of products that bears comparison with corporate enterprises. That way, we develop a new dimension of possibilities for our customers. Our extensive product range extends from printing inks and adhesives to microcapsules and coating systems for the decorative and functional design of surfaces inPRINTING various fieldsINKS of application. WATER-BASED We accompany our customers on the way from FOR TABLE DECORATION PRODUCTS the product requirement to the finished end product. Individual solutions are our speciality! BY FOLLMANN. Innovative strength for environment and safety the responsible use of natural resources in +Only Made in Germany the interests of future generations will ensure long-term business success and an environment Brilliant excellent +worth living colours, in. With our productsadhesion, we also support the sustainability goals our customers easy re-emulsification, fastofdrying and users. In product development, we consider not only aspects of product safety but also Ready-to-use ink system +resource conservation, energy efficiency and (single-component) the reduction of environmental pollution during production and throughout the entire product cycle. for short-term, +lifeSuitable Environmental protection and resource-saving direct food contact production are our top priority. Therefore, responsible use of energy in accordance with energy management system (ISO 50001) +theSuitable for compostability regarding and compliance with certified quality and DIN EN 13432 environmental standards (ISO 9001, ISO 14001) are a matter of course at Follmann.
+ High abrasion resistance
as per DIN 54607 Learn more about us: www.follmann.com
+ Compliant with paA requirements
+ VOC-free
printinginks@follmann.com www.follmann.com
7
For enquiries email info@thebusinessprofile.com