With this article we inaugurate a new partnership between Induvation and Converter & Cartotecnica: they have decided to collaborate to introduce an innovative management concept for corrugated board companies. Each article, in fact, will deal with different topics related to managerial excellence in the corrugated board sector, focusing on the entire value chain.
In this first article, a general overview will be presented, while the next ones will delve into more specific and detailed topics of this sector
Induvation GmbH is a well-established company in the field of management consulting, with a particular focus on business operations and organization. Founded in Germany as a spin-off of the Fraunhofer Institute and present in Italy since 2007, it stands out for its deep expertise in the corrugated cardboard sector, quickly becoming a key reference point for companies aiming for operational excellence.
Induvation’s expertise spans the entire value chain of corrugated cardboard companies, offering comprehensive 360° support. The company works to improve factory and warehouse efficiency by applying Lean principles, and also reorganizes technical and commercial departments with the goal of optimizing internal information and decision-making systems and processes. This approach allows clients to achieve excellence both in order management and planning, as well as in the operational execution of customer service.
Thanks to its broad range of skills, Induvation has supported over 20 well-structured companies in the Italian corrugated cardboard industry on their path toward managerial excellence and continuous improvement. It has also formed strategic partnerships with the leading software houses dedicated to this specific market.
The combination of an innovative and pragmatic approach has enabled the company to successfully tackle the most complex challenges, offering tailored, customized solutions to meet diverse needs. This has helped promote a culture of management, method, and structure aimed at ensuring the sustainable growth of the corrugated cardboard sector.
The 4 key macro-processes in the corrugated cardboard sector
To achieve managerial and operational excellence in the corrugated cardboard industry, it is essential to understand, optimize, and harmonize the four key macro-processes that determine a company’s success in our sector. A deep understanding of these processes allows companies to anticipate critical issues and turn them into real, lasting growth opportunities, creating a competitive edge through the combined value of product and service offered to the market.
Before the sale
Lead generation: this is the crucial phase of generating business opportunities. It involves gathering strategic information from the market and identifying the unique characteristics of each potential customer.
The corrugated packaging market has reached a high level of saturation, where companies often compete by taking customers from one another. The product offered is essentially a commodity, so the winning company is the one that offers services that competitors do not and provides services at a higher quality level.
From a competitive standpoint, service matters more than the product itself. It’s vital to identify your strengths and target customers who recognize those strengths as valuable and are willing to pay for them. This approach leads to market optimization: every company finds its ideal customer base, moving away from price wars and shifting toward service-based differentiation. Customers are willing to pay for specific services they value, and everyone benefits. The key concept here is “market segmentation”: corrugated cardboard companies must find the right market to offer the right product at the right price.
Product-Price-Market FIT: the common issue in the industry is the lack of customer segmentation and the tendency to serve a too much broad range of markets and sectors, often neglecting crucial aspects such as company profitability.
Carefully segmenting and identifying ideal customers makes the job easier not only for the sales team but also for operations department. Choosing the right customers in a low-margin market like corrugated cardboard leads to improved company image, greater efficiency, and higher profits.
Design and quotation: this phase involves creating a product and service that meets customer needs and expectations at the lowest internal cost for the company. The key lies in developing a technical-commercial approach. Understanding clearly what the market wants and defining the correct internal cost to meet that demand is fundamental.
The greatest challenge in this process is bridging the gap between technical and commercial departments, both of which play an active role. These departments often have differing objectives and, in our experience, frequently suffer from a lack of standardized and effective information flow, which results in:
- increased product costs, often due to over-engineering caused by poor communication between technical and sales teams;
- customer dissatisfaction, as they may receive a product with unnecessary features or delayed delivery.
Responsiveness and speed are critical here. The technical and quotation office should be managed like a finite-capacity department with limited time availability. The sales team must provide clear and well-defined information, enabling the creation of a standardized process that adheres to timelines and costs, ultimately improving internal efficiency and customer satisfaction.
After the sale
Order planning and management: this phase concerns the planning of production and logistics activities, based on clearly defined lead times. The order entry activity is crucial at this stage. It must follow clear and precise rules, taking into account factors such as: timelines; inventory levels; machine capacity and saturation; availability of raw materials and production equipment; required service level; type of order (stock-managed, Just in Time, make-to-order, etc.); efficient planning and scheduling of both production and transportation.
A key element is finite-capacity planning with defined and realistic lead times. Only under these conditions the order flow can proceed smoothly, ensuring that the job is delivered within the promised time frame.
The most complex aspect of order management is that it involves multiple company functions. Based on our experience, this process requires simple, shared procedures and rules, and information must be accessible in real-time to all relevant departments. Only with this level of integration and visibility is it possible to satisfy the end customer and keep him informed about the status of his order at any time.
Order execution and fulfillment: this phase involves the actual execution of production, logistics, and maintenance processes to complete the job and deliver it.
There is nothing to invent in this stage, it’s about putting into action what has been planned in the earlier phases. The goal is to maximize efficiency and minimize waste, with a specific focus on: machine setups and changeovers, downtime, production speed, maintenance, production support and product quality. A common issue in this phase is the lack of standardization and poor management of operational information, which leads to waste related to the above factors and increased costs.
An operational environment that embraces digital transformation, where production instructions for a quality package are clear and visible to all, creates an organized and structured factory, which is also a more motivating and satisfying workplace for all operators.
In this area, companies should aim to develop a Lean Production concept, tailored for both the factory and the warehouse, focused on continuous improvement and streamlining operational procedures. This is best achieved by integrating suitable digital tools for managing the flow of information, physical processes, and performance indicators.
These four macro-processes, when managed with attention and expertise, truly represent a critical competitive advantage for companies in the corrugated cardboard industry.
OEE: key indicators of production performance
The mission: elevating the corrugated cardboard sector
The mission of Induvation GmbH goes far beyond traditional management consulting: the company’s true ambition is to actively contribute to the growth and sustainable development of the corrugated cardboard sector, enhancing the competitiveness of businesses through a clear and shared path toward operational excellence.
In line with this mission, in the upcoming editions of Converter & Cartotecnica, we will provide practical and actionable insights related to the four macro-processes presented here, aimed at boosting the efficiency of corrugated cardboard companies.
