The Uhlmann Group closes the 2020/2021 financial year with a turnover of 423 million euros. The business development of Uhlmann Group Holding is consequently almost at the previous year's level. The number of employees remained almost constant and amounts to 2577 employees across the world at the end of the financial year on March 31, 2021. The opening of the new office building, which was built for 350 employees according to "New Work" principles, shows the creative and innovative character of the group. Digitally based business models and packaging solutions will be the focus of the corporate strategy over the next few years. The group will further invest here.
In Uhlmann Group Holding, which was founded in 2019, the companies Uhlmann Pac-Systeme, KOCH Pac-Systeme, Cremer Speciaalmachines, Wonder Packing Machinery and Axito, which specialize in pharmaceutical packaging solutions, are strategically united under one roof. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Matthias Niemeyer, CEO of the Uhlmann Group, says: "We were able to keep turnover in the group stable during the past financial year despite the restrictions of the coronavirus pandemic. The focus of our behavior was and is safety and quality when packaging pharmaceutical products, especially in this year of crisis. Our crisis management, which we started early, was very successful. With innovative solutions such as live chats for machine acceptance or digital trade fairs, webinars and campaigns, we were able to continue our business operations and continue offering our customers professional support. We invested greatly in the safety and the protection of employees."
Digitalization as a driver of innovation
Around 160 experts in digital technologies and software development already work at the Uhlmann Group today. For a company that has its origins in mechanical engineering, this represents a very high proportion of the staff, and shows that the Uhlmann Group no longer sees itself only as a mechanical engineering company. At Uhlmann, digitalization is viewed as an essentially new, further value creation process. The focus is on networking the entire pharmaceutical value creation chain with digital solutions – from the raw material to the patient. The modular software platform Pexcite, developed by Uhlmann itself, networks, for instance, machines throughout the production and packaging process and collages the data in user-friendly dashboards and analysis tools.
"Our digitalization expertise has allowed us even today to succeed with innovative complete solutions that extend beyond mere packaging, even during the pandemic. This allowed us to ensure that the cold chain is not interrupted at an international pharmaceutical company when filling COVID-19 vaccines and that the vaccines retain their effectiveness with our digital cold chain monitoring system, 'Cold Chain Tracking'. The data acquired from monitoring production and logistics processes can, however, also be used in another way – for process optimization based on sustainability criteria for instance, or to better customize products and services," says Professor Dr.-Ing. Matthias Niemeyer.
Investments in New Work
The Uhlmann Group relies on digital transformation as a driver of growth and a success factor. This is also demonstrated in the new office building in Laupheim, opened in the first quarter of 2021. Over 350 modern workstations were created on four floors. With its innovative space concept, the architecture allows working techniques and collaboration beyond an open-plan office. This means that each employee can select their workstation according to their current task. These include creative spaces, quiet spaces for focused work and space for parents who are looking after their children during the day.
Success factor of development partnerships
An important element in the strategic further development of the Uhlmann Group's portfolio is cooperation with other companies. Uhlmann Pac-Systeme together with end-of-line packaging specialist pester pac has developed a family of end-of-line packaging machines, "Uhlmann powered by pester pac automation", with which Uhlmann Pac-Systeme positions itself throughout the complete pharmaceutical packaging and shipping process as a total service provider. All line elements from the "Uhlmann powered by pester pac automation" end-of-line packaging machines are controlled via the user-friendly SmartControl operating system from Uhlmann. Cremer Speciaalmachines, which specializes in the construction of counters and packaging systems for agricultural products and food, has developed a high-performance counter for seeds together with the agricultural group Syngenta. The modular system designed to save a lot of space counts 12,500 seeds per minute with unimagined precision and can be disassembled for cleaning or format changes without tools.
Sustainability as a strategic corporate aim
The Uhlmann Group has set itself the aim as an innovative leader to also be a pioneer in the sector on issues of sustainability. The ten principles of the UN Global Compact are decisive for the further development of the group. In this way, the group takes on double responsibility for the future. Nowadays, sustainability is already an important quality and decision-making criterion for many customers from the pharmaceutical and food industry. By establishing themselves here as innovative and reliable providers, the companies of the Uhlmann Group secure markets and open up new opportunities. Implementing CO2-neutral processes, closed energy and recyclable material cycles and other sustainability factors within the group also mean, however, taking responsibility for subsequent generations still having the opportunity to shape their own future – a future worth living.
For example, packaging machines from the Uhlmann Group are already designed to process easily recyclable mono-materials such as polypropylene and films made of renewable raw materials such as PLA efficiently and reliably. Carton specialist Koch Pac-Systeme offers single-material packaging solutions that can be fully recycled, and three-dimensional cartons made of organically obtained and recyclable material.
Reorganization of the Management Board
In 2020, Uhlmann Group Holding completed the reorganization of the Management Board. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Matthias Niemeyer, Chief Business Development Officer at the Uhlmann Group since May 1, 2020, assumed the position of Chair of the Management Board of Uhlmann Group Holding and Uhlmann Pac-Systeme on October 1, 2020 upon becoming CEO. Alexander Schöllhorn has strengthened the management team of Uhlmann Pac-Systeme as the Chief Financial Officer since October 1, 2020. Dr. Jens Elzheimer took over management there as Managing Director on April 1, 2021, following the conversion of Axito GmbH into an independent company of the Uhlmann Group.
Tobias Uhlmann, Chairman of the Supervisory Board at the Uhlmann Group, says: "We can be proud of how successfully we managed to reorganize the company and its management in the middle of a global pandemic. I am very confident that we have hereby taken an important step towards reaching our strategic aims. After all, we want not only to maintain our leading market position in the sector, but also to help actively shape the upcoming transformation phase in the packaging, health and life sciences industries. As a technological and innovative leader, especially in the area of digitalization and sustainability, and in order to be a reliable partner to our employees as well as the stakeholders in our region."
You can download this press release, current facts and figures of the Uhlmann Group, information about innovations, portraits of the management and press images here:
Business Development [PDF]
Innovations [PDF]
Facts and Figures [PDF]
Management portraits [ZIP]
Press images [ZIP]
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ABOUT UHLMANN
The companies Uhlmann Pac-Systeme, KOCH Pac-Systeme, Cremer Speciaalmachines, Wonder Packing Machinery and Axito are part of Uhlmann Group Holding GmbH & Co. KG. In 1948, Josef Uhlmann founded the original company of today's group, Uhlmann Pac-Systeme GmbH & Co. KG, in Laupheim. Building on core skills in the field of pharmaceutical packaging solutions, the companies of the Uhlmann Group today offer a wide range of high-tech packaging machines, services and digital solutions for the pharmaceutical, health, consumer goods, food and agricultural markets. Represented at 19 locations in 14 countries across the world, the Uhlmann Group achieved a turnover of 423 million euros in the 2020/21 financial year with more than 2500 employees.
Find out more at: www.uhlmann-group.com
