Competence Centre for compounding in Schwendi

Südpack Verpackungen GmbH und Co. KG, one of the leading providers of foil packaging solutions in Europe, is now further expanding its production capacities and expertise in the manufacture of special-purpose plastics. In the town of Schwendi, near its corporate headquarters, Südpack is setting up a dedicated Competence Centre for compounding, where the packaging specialist will soon begin producing its own plastic granulate and continuously refining the material’s characteristics. To make that happen, it has purchased two halls from a former sawmill, which will be modernised and restructured over the next few months. The new location will also mean 25 new jobs.

“Tradition becomes innovation”: that’s Südpack’s ambitious corporate motto. With its plans for the new location in Schwendi, the family-run company, now in its second generation, will deliver on both ends of that promise: on the one hand, the new facilities are in the immediate vicinity of the headquarters in Ochsenhausen – on the other, their addition represents a highly forward-thinking step. As Johannes Remmele, Managing Director of Südpack, explains, “We know where we come from, and which values our strength is based on. One of them is innovation: our ability to continually develop foil packaging solutions and concepts that set new standards for the market. To maintain this advantage, we continue to invest in new technologies, research and development.”

In this context, creating an in-house Competence Centre for compounding – mixing and enhancing the performance of the plastic granulates used in foil manufacturing – marks another important milestone for Südpack. According to Remmele: “This step will considerably strengthen our ability to innovate: We’ll soon be able to directly develop granulates for specific foil properties, allowing us to more quickly bring targeted new solutions to market. Further, we’ll be able to cover the entire production chain for flexible foils – from raw materials, to extrusion, to the printed and refined final product.”

New location, ideal conditions

Südpack had long since planned to expand its production and erect a new Competence Centre. Yet the area around the main location in Ochsenhausen didn’t offer sufficient room. The search for a suitable new location ended in the town of Schwendi, only a few kilometres away, where the company purchased a six-hectare plot, formerly home to the Schilling sawmill. The smaller of the two halls will be used to step up Südpack’s foil production capacities, while the larger of the two will house the new Competence Centre for granulate manufacture, compounding and storage. 

On Monday, 24 July 2017, Südpack submitted an official request to repurpose the former sawmill. The next steps should proceed quickly and smoothly: once the permit has been secured, the former sawmill halls will be completely rebuilt and modernised. “As a trusted supplier to the food and drink industry, our top priorities are safety, hygiene and cutting-edge production conditions,” Remmele states, and accordingly: “The new halls will meet the same high standards as our other locations.” The halls will be renovated using a design supplied by the Ochsenhausen-based architects Sick & Fischbach.