Premium Beauty News - How was your activity like in 2009?
Dieter Bakic - For stock packaging, we encountered decreased re-buy quantities and product launch activities in all countries. The only difference was the point in time, when the activities slowed down. USA was the first one, shortly followed by Russia and then by Europe. For design services, we had a high level of activity in 2009. Some customers wanted to be ready with new shapes when the market turns and others sought for competitive differentiation via colours and graphics.
Premium Beauty News - Is the recovery really back and what are your predictions for 2010?
Dieter Bakic - We feel a higher level of activity compared to the same time in 2009. Although customers are still cautious and are ordering smaller volumes at shorter lead times, the outlook is more positive than one year ago. This does not mean that recovery is fully back and we believe that 2010 will still be a challenging year.
Premium Beauty News - Environmental labelling, legislative pressures of all kinds ...., how do you cope with regulatory developments in your area. Are they constraints or opportunities?
Dieter Bakic - Opportunities because these developments make you consider new aspects and ideas. Moreover, only by overcoming constraints you add value to your product and service portfolio and that is what customer’s value and why they finally purchase from you.
Premium Beauty News - Relocation, partial of full subcontracting in Asia or elsewhere... what is the ideal balance?
Dieter Bakic - The decision to produce in a low cost country depends for us on the type of customer you serve, the products involved and the speed of reactivity you need. We decide on a case by case basis and consider aspects like what regional market we want to supply, the necessary level of automation, size of investments, environmental and transportation costs and the complexity of the supply chain. The balance can be different depending on the project and the customer.
