03 16 unique packpaper8 Foreign cultures time zones and payment practices In the plastics and packaging industry Europe is perceived as the leader in quality and innovation As a European company Greiner Packaging thus has a good image but this alone is not enough to form business relationships or sell products Dietmar Sulz bacher Sales Director Business Development New Ventures notes You have to be aware that each new investment brings along new challenges Only in the rarest of cases does reality correspond to the original business plans The real strength of a global company lies in engaging with other cultures with ways of think ing and working It is a question of properly using the potentials and synergies ari sing from this not of the mo notonous global rolling out of a presumed European ideal This is also confirmed by Mi chael Reiser President of the Greiner Packaging US site in Pittston It is important to consider regional diffe rences within the entire company You cannot simply use a blueprint from Europe for a site on a different continent Often it is not just technical and legal con ditions that require adjustment but rather primarily the local people and employees Growing up in ano ther culture and under a different educational system their socialization affects not only how they commu nicate and interact but also the decisions and pro blem solving approaches that are adopted in day to day work This gap between cultures must be bridged a process that can take many years Even if the objective is to shape a company in accordance with European standards a foreign subsidiary in ano ther continent always has specific unique characteri stics that must be accepted and that must be taken into consideration in the subsequent organization and implementation Understanding attitudes and hab its and using them in the best possible way for the own work process is the attitude with which Greiner Packaging has succeeded in the USA despite some adjustments and changes of direction in forming a model company in the packaging industry within a short period In the SQF certification the company achieved the best score ever in the USA for a new company That is an achievement that is also greatly based on the support of the whole Greiner Packaging group it was possible to rely on corporate standards in the technical area in processes and in organization But even an open attitude or internal standards chan ge nothing in often difficult market conditions Special challenges also lie in the distance from and the time difference with the Austrian domestic market factors that should not be underestimated Support services and deliveries require more time than people from Eu rope are accustomed to with a solid site network Greiner Packaging can often react quickly to customer needs here There is also only a narrow time frame for direct communication Our standing in the market is fundamentally different from that in Europe Whereas in Europe everybody knows Greiner Packaging in the USA you are nobody with a name that many cannot even spell correctly at first Even the filling plants lo gistics systems and the long transport routes are si gnificantly different from those in Europe adds Rei ser In the Middle East and in North Africa too Greiner Packaging finds itself confronting totally different con ditions in countries that are supplied from the Istanbul site in Turkey Cash payments in advance are quite common in Libya or Iraq due to the complete lack of any banking structure respect and commitment cha racterize the customer relationships more than usual and the risks of unrest and war are also ever present Synergies and advantages on the customer side Nonetheless deployment abroad is worth it Not just for Greiner Packaging itself but also above all for the customers who profit from the expansion strategy of the company In this way the subject of supply re liability plays a decisive role for many partners With a global production network Greiner Packaging can ensure that the production for the customer is guaran teed even if for example a plant or the production in a region becomes completely inoperative because there are technology and production options availab le at numerous sites With activities in various regions and on different continents the power and speed of innovation of a company also grow because know how experience and new trends can be exchanged between the individual sites This is a benefit also for customers who are not or only to a limited extent ac tive on global markets Global trends in the packaging industry can be collected within a short period of time and presented to the individual customer including field reports of the sales team and pictures from the markets Samples are available within a few days and can become a source of inspiration With its globaliz ation strategy Greiner Packaging is becoming step Only in the rarest of cases does reality correspond to the original business plans Dietmar Sulzbacher Sales Director Business Development New Ventures Regional differences have to be taken into conside ration regarding sites on different continents Focus

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