Beiersdorf unveils plans for second round of restructuring

By Simon Pitman

- Last updated on GMT

Related tags Supply chain Personal care

German cosmetic and toiletries giant Beiersdorf says it will be
realigning its Dutch and Swedish facilities as part of the second
stage of restructuring plans that aim to save €100m a year in
production costs.

The latest announcement forms part of plans to optimise its production network, Beiersdorf says it is considering the possible closure of the production sites in Kungsbacka, Sweden, where around 200 staff are employed and in Almere, Netherlands, where 130 staff are employed.

The company says that its intention is to shift production to other sites in Europe. Last week the company said that production at its wound care production line in Hamburg would shift to Argentona in Spain, where the majority of its European wound care products have been produced for some years. The move will see 85 positions lost.

The company also added that its warehouses in The Netherlands and Belgium, where around 70 staff are currently employed, would be closed, and that in future the markets would be served from Hamburg, Germany.

Although the move is likely to lead to the loss of 400 positions in total, the company said that a further 400 staff employed in these three markets for the distribution and marketing of products would retain their positions.

Meanwhile the company said that it was working towards finding alternative employment opportunities within the company, including relocation to other European facilities and transfers within the existing local businesses.

Although the company has not made it clear whether further positions are likely to be axed amongst the company's 16,000 global workforce, Beiersdorf said that it would continue to search out new ways of upping efficiencies and cost savings.

The company is investing huge sums to upgrade its supply chain, in an effort to fall in line with demands from European retail giants as well as further improving its supply chain efficiencies and speed up the entire flow goods.

But ultimately the savings will translate into bigger investment opportunities for the company's ambitious brand-building plan. The marketer of one of the world's biggest cosmetic and toiletry brands, Nivea, says it wants to build on its existing brand portfolio in an effort to improve its share of the global personal care market.

The company is aiming to achieve a 5.5 per cent slice of the global market for personal care products by the year 2010 and will be particularly looking to the markets of China, India, Brazil and Russia to help it achieve this goal.

The savings generated by the realignment of the Supply Chain amount to € 100 million per annum. Beiersdorf will use these funds to invest in the development of new products and in brand-building.

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