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Supporting a customer in an emergency

When a packaging plant’s stock literally went up in smoke, SCA Containerboard pulled out all the stops to ensure the customer could fill its orders.

Despite the best precautions, sometimes accidents do happen. And in the paper industry one of the worst mishaps must surely be a warehouse fire. This is exactly what happened at a packaging plant in Reichenau, Austria, owned by the Neupack Group.  

The catastrophe destroyed most of the stock, making it virtually impossible for to continue production. For Jeanette Löblich, Supply Chain Administrator at the SCA Containerboard Service Centre in Diegem, Belgium, the priority was clear: somehow her customer had to produce its orders. 

Close contact

“During the first three days after the fire I was in very close contact with both Neupack and the SCA Containerboard mill in Witzenhausen, Germany,” Jeanette remembers. Working with the mill’s dispatch department, a few hours after the accident she even managed to organise several deliveries for the following day – quite an achievement, since shipping that distance normally takes two days.

At the mill, the production plan was being changed hourly to accommodate Neupack. “Witzenhausen accepted every order, usually with production within 24-48 hours, compared to a typical leadtime of 7-10 days,” explained Jeanette. “We even built up a safety stock at Witzenhausen. Neupack had no place to put extra reels.”

“We can count on you”

Thanks to very good communication between Jeanette and the customer, backed up by the huge efforts of the Witzenhausen personnel, Neupack was able to ship to its customers almost without interruption.  

In a thank-you letter here is what the Neupack plant management had to say:

“You have proven in this very critical situation that our relationship is far in excess of the normal business relationship and that even in an extreme case we can count on you.”