BAVARIA Industries Group took over the leading manufacturer of aseptic packaging systems for the food industry from Swiss company SIG in April 2004.
Initial situation
Hamba’s customers’ satisfaction level had fallen sharply due to delays in deliveries and inadequate customer service. As a result, Hamba Filltec reported an operating loss of approximately EUR 50 million in the years 2001 to 2003 and in 2004 – the year of its acquisition by BAVARIA – the order backlog had fallen to its lowest point.
Key measures following the takeover
Following the acquisition by BAVARIA, sales and customer service were improved and further internationalised under Hamba’s new management. It was thus possible to win back strong regional dairies as well as major global milk and yoghurt producers as key customers.
A comprehensive cost-reduction programme was introduced in parallel to this, leading to significant savings on materials procurement and overhead costs. Inventories were reduced on a sustainable basis, as were receivables. Furthermore, the employees made a substantial contribution to the restructuring of Hamba by extending their weekly working hours.
Further development
Through “Flexline”, which was introduced at Interpack 2005, the company offered an entirely new generation of filling machines. The primary objective when developing the new system was to reduce the total cost of ownership for the customer further. This was most noticeable in the lower maintenance costs and high level of flexibility. The modular structure of the machinery significantly reduced the complexity of the system, thus also leading to shorter delivery times.
We initially considered collaborative sales partnerships in order to achieve better market coverage for the new “Flexline” machinery. However, at the end of 2007 we decided to sell the company, which was now operating at a clear profit again, to global packaging machinery group Oyster, which can better support the necessary globalisation.