“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” (African Proverb)
Once again, this proverb proved true last Saturday in Würzburg at the award ceremony for the “Grand Prize for Medium-Sized Businesses”: Our company was honored as an award winner for the Thuringia competition region. A total of 4,970 companies, banks, and municipalities across Germany were nominated in 12 competition regions, 533 of which reached the jury list.
This year, the competition, which has been held annually since 1994 and is one of the most coveted business awards, was themed “Setting Milestones.” A company is comprehensively evaluated across five competition criteria, including its role within society:
- Overall development of the company
- Creation/securing of jobs and apprenticeships
- Modernization and innovation
- Commitment in the region
- Service, customer proximity, marketing
Outstanding performance is required in all five criteria. Failure to meet even one criterion can lead to exclusion from further stages of the competition.
As a milestone that flowed into these evaluation criteria, we see the founding of our company in 1990 as a manufacturer of flexible film packaging, which occurred just one year after Jürgen Karl’s activity as a pure trading company. Solid expertise and the necessary experience in this field supported Jürgen Karl’s decision 17 years later to integrate the printing of films as an important work step into internal processes. Another important step was thus the entry into independent film printing using the flexographic printing process.
Unfortunately, a succession plan had to be implemented much too early in 2012, which Ronny and Denny Karl have successfully carried out ever since. Trust, commitment, and the unyielding will not just to continue their father’s work, but to establish the Karl name as a brand in the packaging industry, are the driving forces behind the company’s current success. However, this success would not be the same without our company’s and our products’ focus on sustainability. Precisely because we are a medium-sized family business that aims to endure for future generations, our employees and products are very close to our hearts. Various concepts for maintaining health in the workplace are integrated into work processes and actively practiced. But it’s not just working conditions that are in focus. Technical processes are also constantly examined, analyzed, and improved to implement the strategic product developments that changing times continually demand. In recent years, significant investments have been specifically made across the entire value chain to underpin our competitiveness in the future. Regarding our products, we have, of course, been aware of the critical perception of film packaging for many years. Through our daily work, we are committed to ensuring that our packaging solutions are sustainable and innovative. For many problems, they are the only sensible solution when it comes to protecting and promoting a good/product and extending its shelf life, to name just a few criteria.
The milestones our company has set in the years since its founding also required appropriate space last year. In April 2019, a new building, intended to bring both logistical and structural improvements, was therefore started. With the occupation of the new, additional halls and premises for production and administration in the Pörsdorf industrial park at the beginning of this year, the course was set for a responsible future for the company. The stable existence even during the ongoing Corona crisis has shown that we are on the right track with our strategic orientation and our sustainably designed portfolio.
We are all the more delighted to have received the “Grand Prize for Medium-Sized Businesses” 2020 award. For us, it is a sign that together we can achieve more and progress further.
Our thanks go to all our employees, customers, suppliers, banks, and the Greiz district administration, as well as regional and national institutions, who have supported and accompanied us for 30 years now.
In honor and gratitude for his life’s work, we dedicate the received award to our father, Jürgen Karl. His courage and passion formed the foundation of Karl Verpackungen.
Ronny Karl (Managing Director) & Denny Karl (Operations Manager)
Karl Verpackungen GmbH
