UPM Paper ENA and Paper Asia named Paul & Co, the manufacturer of paper cores with 12 plants in Europe and Asia, the top-performing packaging supplier for the second year running. Frank Bruns, Purchasing Manager at UPM, presented the certificate of honour to Christoph Schmitt, Research and Development Manager at Paul & Co, at the ‘drupa’ Fair in Düsseldorf, Germany in June.
The top ranking was no big surprise to either party, but even more delightful as the high standard of last year was kept. “Paul & Co is a family business with high regard for customer satisfaction. It is evident in all their departments, and the company achieved high to excellent ranking in supply chain, quality, customer service and technical support”, says Bruns.
The paper core manufacturer is very familiar with paper customers’ requirements. “Our company has two paper mills, so as paper manufacturers ourselves, we know from experience that each and every core needs to rotate in the roll machine smoothly and inconspicuously”, says Schmitt. “We have put a lot of effort into details to keep the quality of our products uniform”, he continues.
UPM conducts regular supplier assessments of their strategically important suppliers. The assessments are meant to help the suppliers to develop their work methods and optimise the collaboration. The assessments are part of UPM’s ISO 9001 quality system. “This year, all assessed packaging suppliers improved their scores”, says Bruns.
The assessments provide plenty of detailed feedback that the suppliers use in different ways. Paul & Co has applied the feedback received to production, among other things. “Feedback enables us to give more credit to the employees responsible for the production of UPM’s paper cores. They are not in close contact with the customers, which is why it is important for them to hear that the product they manufacture is considered high-quality, and they can also learn what aspects they can still improve upon. This knowledge makes the employees even more persistent and determined in the work they do to manufacture products that ‘their customer’ will be satisfied with. All this brings them closer to the customer”, says Schmitt.