In its 120th anniversary year, the Panther Group is investing in its location in Tornesch. A neighbouring property was purchased last month. This almost 25,000 sqm area is developed with a high-bay warehouse, service areas and representative offices.
With this acquisition, Altonaer Wellpappenfabrik can now be further expanded and the sales volume increased to almost 300m sqm per year. In addition, two more folder-gluers including fully automatic sorting and bundling of box bundles and high-performance palletising robots have already been ordered in order to be able to meet the demand for e-commerce business. For this purpose, another new building with an area of approximately 6,000 sqm is to be built in 2023. With these investments, which amount to around €45m, have been invested in Tornesch alone in recent years in order to remain a leading corrugated board producer in northern Germany.
Further investments are also being made at the other Panther plants. In addition to the extensive investments in machines/equipment and properties, the focus is on further reducing energy consumption. Due to the machinery of the entire Group, which is state-of-the-art, the specific energy consumption is already very low. However, due to the current energy crisis, investments also had to be made in security of supply. In 2022, all corrugated board plants in the Group will be able to be operated with both gas and light fuel oil. The current supply and cost situation in energy supply will also determine the market and investment behaviour of the Group in the short term.
Another focus of investment remains education and training. Around €5m are invested in apprenticeships every year. Approximately 130 apprentices are currently working in 16 different professions in order to be prepared for the future in terms of both quality and quantity. In addition, every employee’s child/grandchild currently has a guaranteed apprenticeship position. As a family company, Panther like to offer all employee families future opportunities.
Despite the currently tense and challenging situation in Germany, the investments mentioned are being made first and foremost in order to continue to be a reliable, competent, agile and flexible partner at the highest level for customers.
