World War II from 1939 to 1945 was a
global war that spelt widespread devastation. A war that lasted six years,
involved over a 100 million people in 30 countries with use of nuclear warfare
resulting in over 50 million casualties. It was, by far the deadliest war in
the history of mankind. In the aftermath of World War II, sometime in 1952, on
the streets of Dusseldorf in a war torn Germany, a poor young boy, barely into
his teens, stood on the road side watching children going to school, barefoot!
While his father was trying to show him historical monuments in the city, this
boy was instead more interested to see the factory workers enter their
workplaces. Pensive in his thoughts, he was wondering that while the children
like he himself, got to eat just one meal a day and the workers he was
watching, slogged hard in the factories, the owners of these factories were
rich men with elaborate lifestyles. They drove big cars and wore expensive
clothes. Even though life was extremely difficult in those trying times, this
poor destitute boy silently wished and resolutely committed to his destiny that
one day soon in the future he will become the owner of a big factory. That
defining moment in his life and the adversities of life post World War II
taught this poor boy that all his life he has to be careful with money and save
it. With passing years it dawned on him to be firm and not solve problems with
just the use of money but to solve them with innovative ideas. That poor young
boy standing on the roadside and dreaming of a prosperous future was none other
than Helmut Schreiner, the mentor and owner of 130 million Euro, Schreiner
Group.
Theodore Schreiner was a prisoner of
war in Russia while his family suffered in Germany during the war. His son
Helmut was born in 1939 at the start of World War II, and had an initial
childhood wrapped in difficulties of the times prevailing then. At the end of
the war, Theodore returned home tired, shattered and with health problems.
There was no money or work and he did not know what to do to survive and
support his family in such distressing times. While in army, Theodore worked as
an engineer for “reference and logistics”. The technical knowledge and
capabilities was his only wealth at that time and it implored him to explore
possibilities into manufacturing something. A close friend, who was an
engraver, suggested a business to him and said, “I make the plates, and you
make the labels and sell”. These words made sense to Theodore. Poverty and
hardship had even made him to consider leaving everything, including his
homeland and immigrate elsewhere in search for a better future for himself and
his family. However in 1951, his technical abilities lead him to initiate his
startup venture named after his wife Margarete, “Margarete
Schreiner-Spezialfabrik fur gepragte Siegelmarken und Etiketten” to produce
embossed labels in a 45 square meter garage, which was their first factory. His
12 year old son Helmut was the only help that he had at that time. Both father
and son duo actually carried stones to the garage to lay the flooring of their
first factory. Just one year down,
Theodore bought his first 3 inch single colour flatbed label press. With Helmut
as an apprentice, they started to print wet glue labels for stockings, bread,
garments, etc. That
was thebeginning.
As is always the case in a maiden
start-up venture, the initial years were the most difficult and memorable ones.
Memorable because one looks back and learns from the experience of having
tackled distressing situations. There was not enough money, space and orders.
Whenever an order came by, it had to be managed from the existing capabilities.
A four colour job had to be done in four passes through the same press. The wet
labels had to be laid carefully in card board boxes to dry. They worked hard to
make both ends meet, Helmut’s sister also pitched in to help in the
manufacturing. Helmut reminisces about the difficulties like pulling a handcart
himself for 20 kms for either bringing the paper in or for delivering the
parcels to the postoffice for dispatch to customers. In 1955 the Schreiners
bought their second 6 inch two colour press and started to make their own
special printing plates by doing the etching process in their bathroom. They
would also undertake dying and colouring the fabric garment tags for their
customers in their kitchen. The family made tremendous compromises in the
initial years of their struggle for survival. The space was so short that
Helmut would spread his bed each night on the kitchen floor and fold it in the
morning to commence another days cooking and production work. Every young child
also needs schooling and education to be able to face up to the challenges and
diversities of modern day life. Helmut Schreiner had become a boy scout and one
day while interacting with friends he realized that he was not educated. He was
so motivated that he started reading on his own and in due course of time he
adjusted his time such that he would work during the day and attend school in
the evening. He got so engrossed in acquiring knowledge that books and
cassettes became his regular and immediate companions. On another front, his heritage
coming from a parent with engineering background inspired him to start working one
day every week as a printer apprentice with a printing company without any
remuneration. He was a quick learner and was judged the best in his class.
However still, Helmut maintains that most of his learning came from his mentor
and father Theodore Schreiner. His father taught him how to manage and reach
goals.
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As Helmut progressed towards the end
of his teens, he became restless and ambitious yearning for growth into wider
avenues. Towards the end of 50’s in 1958 a USA based company approached them with
a 50 meter sample roll for pressure sensitive labels. Theodore Schreiner was
not interested in the product but young Helmut saw the new opportunities and
wished to move ahead to take up the challenge. With some modifications he could
print and produce both wet glue and pressure sensitive adhesive labels with
sprocket holes on his flat bed press. It was an invention at that time. This
was a game changing moment for them. Helmut could also improve the speed of his
press to drive in larger profits. It was their first big moment! Out of teens,
the ambitious young man, 20 year old Helmut aspired to sharpen his skills, in
1960 he left the active work in the company and for six years he went to study
printing technology and economics. To fund his endeavors he would work on
week-ends in a big offset printing company. This way he was acquiring
theoretical knowledge as well as practical experience. After completing his studies he joined yet
another large offset printing company printing maps and brochures on big format
printing machines like Roland and Heidelberg. Helmut was leaving no stone
unturned to acquire knowledge and art of printing. Meanwhile in 1961 his father’s
company name was changed to, “Etiketten Schreiner-Spezialfabrik fur Haft, Präge-und
Anhänge-Etiketten” (meaning special factory for embossed labels and tags). The
small 45 square meter garage and further rooms in the house was falling too
short in space for them even to move within. So in 1965 they rented a bigger
place measuring 400 square meters. A move from just 100 square meters to 400
square meters was a dramatic move for those times!
In 1970 Helmut was trained and
competent to take up responsibilities in his father’s company which by that
time had reached a sales turnover of 600.000 DM an equivalent of 300.000 Euros.
He rejoined business and 4 years later by 1974 Helmut Schreiner was in the
driving seat. The name of the company was this time changed to “Etiketten
Schreiner”. In these four years Helmut Schreiner had steered the company to a
turnover of 2.50 Million DM or 1.25 Million Euros. Thereafter there has been no
looking back. In 1986, as the company grew into the self-adhesive or pressure
sensitive label production, the name was again changed to “Etiketten Schreiner und
Selbstklebetechnik”. The company’s sales had started doubling up every five
years to reach a figure of 130 million Euros now. Restructuring the growth and
providing the right impetus to newly segregated growth areas the company was registered
in 2002 as “Schreiner Group GmbH & Co.KG subdivided into the following;
1. Schreiner
Protech
2. Schreiner
Medipharm
3. Schreiner
ProSecure
4. Schreiner
LogiData
5. Schreiner
Variolight
6. Schreiner
Etiketten und Selbstklebetechnik
The
Group now operates out of a total workspace of 60,000 square meters with over
800 employees. A walk through the Schreiner manufacturing facility is an
experience and an eye opener. One witnesses the extent of passion this company
has in their products and innovation. The company exports 60 % of their turnover
and have a backup unit in the State of New York with 50 employees. 55% of the
total group turnover comes from Medipharm catering to medical applications, 35%
from Protech catering to automotive and technical fields and 10% from Printrust
catering to security applications. Prosecure is a sensitive data &
Technology maintenance and competence centre, in simpler terms it is the
R&D centre. LogiData is the R&D centre for RFID. Helmut Schreiner seems
to have lost count of the number of printing equipments in his company, “maybe
70 or more he shrugs” The company has presses of various makes in specialized
departments spread over the vast production areas in five multistoried
buildings.
Diverse printing technologies like flexo, offset, rotary screen,
flat screen, etc. and custom
converting processes are employed to produce
innovative and state of art label products some of which are patented. Most of
the leading brands in label presses and custom converting equipments are
obvious by their presence at Schreiner manufacturing facilities. During my
visit many production areas had been cordoned off even for general company
employees for reasons of high security printing jobs for specific customers.
The entire unit is under surveillance and monitored by CCTV cameras. Sensitive
production areas are fully sanitized due to medical requirements. The finishing
department has the best inspection system a large presence of the NIKKA defect
detection systems is quite visible. Extreme care is taken right up to final
packaging. Each roll of labels produced after inspection is shrink packed in
strong corrugated carton and multiples of these cartons go into master cartons
with special paper based cushioning being produced in the cushioning machines
in their packing department. Every package is labeled, bar-coded and entered
into a computer which provides information to various courier companies and
transport companies on the packages ready for shipment. I was really impressed
by the huge 1050 square meter computerized and fully automated raw material
warehouse which is 14.3 meters high, has three levels for storage and three
lanes. The warehouse can store 3624 pallets and can automatically deposit and
retrieve reels or pallets of material on computer generated commands. As for innovations
in labels; whether it was the labels with built in hang tags for intravenous
drug delivery applications or the labels for disposable syringes with a device
inbuilt to dispose off the needle safely so that it does not accidentally
scratch anyone causing spread of infection. The uniqueness of their products is
amazing.
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Helmut’s
wife Ulrike has been by his side as a solid support ever since their marriage in
1966. She still contributes in the business by supporting in the human resources
development in this way she is the “soul” of the family business.
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When
I asked Helmut Schreiner about the new label technologies impacting PS labels,
his reply was, “All technologies will coexist. The customer today is very knowledgeable
and knows about the increasing number of options available. Labels are a
necessary decoration for any product, innovation is the
need of the hour. For example one can design a label such that if you touch a
label, it plays music.” He adds, “I am a fan of innovation. If everyone sells
tomatoes, I would like to sell peaches!” Adding a word of caution, “Printing
directly on products is dangerous, it reduces cost and could decrease the demand
of labels”. Helmut believes his company has to respond to customer needs and innovate
to deliver good performing labels whether it is for security, pharmaceuticals
or other applications. His opinion on digital printing is that it is a
fantastic technology along with laser die-cutting and once it evolves to
perfection it will change the printer’s life. One could not imagine reading a newspaper
digitally on the phone! On RFID, he feels it is a wonderful technology but on
the business side it is not very lucrative. It changes too fast.
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Helmut’s
wife Ulrike has been by his side as a solid support ever since their marriage in
1966. She still contributes in the business by supporting in the human resources
development.jpg)
They
have two children, son Roland and daughter Carina who is married and is a
coach, mentor and motivator for young people. She is a qualified economist and
psychologist.
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Helmut Schreiner is now 73 years old and believes in the capabilities
of the next generation. In September 2012, he had already handed over the
reigns of the Schreiner Group to his only son 43 year old son Roland.
Roland completed
his studies in printing technology, finance and management before proceeding to
USA. While in America, Roland worked in two different label companies for two
years before returning home in 2000 to join his father. When I asked Helmut
where he sees the Group five years from now, he feels that it is not the size
that really matters. It is important for this enterprise to be healthy and consistently
deliver to the customers what is needed. Roland wanted to lead the company on
his own and Helmut has given that opportunity to his next generation and it is now
for him to find the right direction. He feels he has an excellent advisory board.
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Having more time on his hands, Helmut founded a new company “Schreiner
Innovation GmbH & Co. KG”. Here he is interested in developing partnerships
with other companies as well as dealing real estate. He is also now devoting a
substantial part of his time to social activities and charities. He lives his philosophy,
to be honest and true to himself and to his people and this has evolved from
personal experiences in his life. His philosophy for his company and his people
has been clear and value oriented. The values were innovation, quality,
performance and joy! This clear positioning was always the bases for his
personal happiness and business success.
The above article was first published in “Narrow Web Tech” magazine published by G&K
TechMedia GmbH, Am Stollen 6/1, 79261 Gutach-Bleibach, Deutschland
e-Mail: info@flexo.de
“Unauthorized use or publishing of this article is
prohibited”
Written by
Harveer Singh Sahni, Managing Director, Weldon Celloplast Limited, New Delhi,
India April 2013
