Abstract
Hartmann A/S specializes in egg packaging, but also produces industrial and other moulded-fibre packaging products. Hartmann is the dominant producer of egg packages in Europe, with a 40% market share. It has the potential to benefit from economies of scale in production and distribution, but so do its one of the biggest competitor like paper and pulp manufacturer Huhtamaki in Europe.
After top management and the chairman were replaced in 2010, and the new team was given a brief to reorganize the organization structure, the company set up a new 3 year consolidation strategy, Hartmann is aiming to strengthen market offer, operational excellence, maintain competitive cost level and to increase high value market share and capacity until 2013.
As egg demand is typically very stable, Hartmann's bottom line is mostly affected by costs and cost reduction. A major part of the production cost is the price of recycled paper, which has increased significantly recently, not least due to a high demand from China. Since the company is heavily reliable on raw material prices, loyal customers and suppliers, it is most important to keep track of the costs and ensure an efficient enterprise.
