4 - Refresco.de

“In 2009 Refresco business units continued
their operations and to rightsize activities”
to define Refresco leadership behavior, which formed the
backbone for developing Refresco management. A group training
program was designed, for which we use an outside faculty from
a few selected preferred suppliers, each covering different areas
of leadership and management skill development.
In Refresco Benelux and Refresco Iberia the acquisition and
integration of Schiffers Food at Hoensbroek and the Zumos
Pascual plant at Palma del Río were successfully accomplished.
Refresco Benelux started in cooperation with SBK - a well-known
Dutch training organization - the Refresco Academy, which trains
employees to obtain the diploma of Operator C. The increased
complexity of production lines and product varieties requires
highly skilled personnel. On top Refresco wishes to optimize
production line efficiency by means of World Class Manufacturing
techniques. Therefore this integral training structure was set up.
Refresco Iberia continued its initiatives to enhance
organizational effectiveness and upgrade the quality of middle
management through their ‘Talento’ project.
In Refresco Poland, the process of streamlining and rightsizing
was taken a step further whilst at the same time new HRM
initiatives were successfully deployed and overtime and
absenteeism was reduced. Absenteeism was also significantly
reduced in Refresco UK.
In Refresco Germany, the intended restructuring of the
manufacturing blueprint was completed including closure of the
Burgstetten plant and the further streamlining of the Uelzen
plant. At Refresco France, the turnaround of St. Alban was
successful, which made the plant an important hub for a major
contract manufacturing customer.
Due to the inclusion of acquisitions the average number
of employees within the Refresco Group increased from 2241
to 2318 full time equivalents.
Preferred partner
Our customers
Refresco supplies a broad portfolio of customers. On the
one hand, accounting for approx. 60% of our total output,
we manufacture private label products for leading retailers
across Europe. Not only does this comprise delivering the end
product, but it also entails responsibility for the entire supply
chain. On the other hand, we co-manufacture for international
A-brands. Their trust in us is rewarded by the quality and
service we deliver. We must understand our customers’
needs as well as the trends and movements in the markets we
operate in. Close cooperation with our customers is therefore
essential to successful business relationships.
Refresco’s organizational model is characterized by strong and independent decentralized business units with central coordination
focused on specific functions. Refresco provides the business units with the tools to run their operations in the best way
possible. For that purpose Refresco started implementing a Group ERP system in 2004. Part of the synergies on past and present
acquisitions can only be realized with better information and coordination. It is in line with the strategy begun in 2004 to roll out
the Group ERP system to the newly formed business units. The central Holding team is set up to support the business units in
their performance. The Holding team provides the necessary tools, transfers best practices and coordinates synergies across the
companies. The Holding team is purposely kept compact to control costs.
In our business, we focus on long-term cooperation with
customers. Short-term or single collaborations do not fit our
business model because we believe in delivering high quality
at the right price. This requires major investments that are
not profitable when undertaking a short-term cooperation.
We aim at market winners who we can offer state-of-the-art
production sites combined with our highly skilled purchasing
and manufacturing staff for turning out high quality products.
Being in the right place at the right time to supply our customers
means we are right behind them in their international expansion.
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