Papier Sihl + Eika expands its paper management offering to the office sector - and soon becomes part of a larger whole.Paper wholesalers cannot survive on their core business of paper trading alone in the long term - this realization prompted Sihl+Eika Papier AG (Sihl+Eika) to look for a strong, reliable partner in 1997. With the German paper trading group G. Schneider & Söhne (Schneidersöhne), Sihl+Eika found this partner. Schneidersöhne has held an 80 percent stake in Sihl+Eika, which is based in Thalwil, since 1998. Thinner margins and a long period of sluggish economic activity have made life difficult for the pure paper trading business in recent years, explained Daniel Meier, Delegate of the Board of Directors of Sihl+Eika, at a recent press conference.Sihl+Eika increases profit Although the Sihl+Eika Group suffered from a price collapse in the last financial year, just like its competitors, Switzerland's second-largest paper wholesaler was able to sell more paper again in 2004 after three weaker years. Despite higher sales, however, turnover fell by 0.7 percent. However, Daniel Meier continued, the company was able to increase profits thanks to more profitable service business. The company was able to offset the ongoing price erosion with services. With growth of 4.2 percent, Sihl+Eika outperformed the paper wholesalers organized in the VSPG association (including Antalis, Sihl+Eika, Inapa Switzerland and Fischer Papier), which sold "only" 2.4 percent more paper on average than in the previous year. This success of Sihl+Eika can be attributed, among other things, to the consistent shift away from drop shipment business (deliveries from the producer directly to the customer) in favor of the more lucrative stock business, explained Meier.
Stockless print shops Sihl+Eika is also very successful in the service sector. Daniel Meier describes the paper management service introduced by the paper trading company in 2000 as the "showpiece" of an overall offering that focuses on logistical services. The company delivers the required quantity of paper to the printing machine ready for processing on a fixed date. Sihl+Eika is now expanding this area with the paper management package.
Office continues to expand. As Peter Meier, responsible for organization, IT and controlling, explained, Sihl+Eika has a total of 7,000 items in stock. These also include customer-specific consumables. Orders - as well as invoices if required - are processed electronically. Sihl+Eika takes care of the storage, management, picking and delivery of items ordered by customers via the website and delivers them to customers.
Consolidation in the European market Rainer Köster, Managing Director
of the German parent company Schneidersöhne, spoke about changes in paper wholesale. This has long since changed from a national to a continental business. The consolidation that has been going on for years is continuing. Like Sihl+Eika at the time, the Schneidersöhne family business has finally gone on the hunt for a new owner. In a due diligence process, the company StoraEnso, which is active in both paper production and paper trading (as "Papyrus"), has won the bid and now wants to take over Schneidersöhne (and thus indirectly also the Sihl+Eika Group). If the European Competition Commission approves the merger, the five-member owner family will sell the majority of Schneidersöhne to the Swedish-Finnish StoraEnso Group. StoraEnso, the world's largest paper and cardboard manufacturer, is itself a product of a 1998 merger between the cardboard manufacturer Stora and the paper manufacturer Enzo. Due to shifts in the paper trade and the acquisition of the German Claasen-Papier by Schneidersöhne, the merger of the two dealers Papyrus and Schneidersöhne creates the second-largest paper wholesale group in Europe with a market share of 23 percent.
However, nothing should change for Sihl+Eika's Swiss customers: "StoraEnso is not expected to make any major changes in Switzerland," explain both Rainer Köster and Daniel Meier in unison.
Jürgen Franck
