From the economic miracle into the 2nd millennium - 60 years of Südwestkarton, the southernmost Panther factory
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Südwestkarton GmbH & Co.KG in Illingen (near Stuttgart), which has been integrated into the Panther Group since 1968, is now celebrating its 60th anniversary in November. The site was founded back in 1961 under the company name HeBu (Heinrich Bullinger Wellpappen-Fabrik); at the time of the ongoing economic miracle in Germany, the company supplied numerous industrial customers with corrugated board packaging and played its part in the overall economic upswing. A comparison of figures from the early days makes this clear: at the beginning of 1964, the company produced about 800 m2 of packaging material per month.
In November 1967, the capacity was already two million square metres per month. With the increasing quality and quantity requirements of the customer base, the signs since the company's foundation, but especially since the 1970s, have been continuously pointing to growth, innovation and the expansion of the range of services. At the beginning of the second millennium, the expansion of production capacities as well as automation gained further momentum.
As a subsidiary of Panther Packaging GmbH & Co. KG, Südwestkarton is the southernmost location of the Panther Group. Thanks to its strategically good location near the industrial city of Stuttgart, Südwestkarton serves its customers in southwestern Germany as well as in France, Austria and Switzerland.
The wide range of products and services extends from corrugated sheets to die-cut packaging, folding boxes and multi-point glued packaging, also with self-adhesive closure for the mail order business. The packaging developed in-house is supplied to a wide range of industries. System and process consulting are just as much a part of the service as high-quality print finishing in flexo preprint and direct print processes. The Panther plant in Illingen is certified according to DIN EN ISO 9001 and DIN EN 14001, DIN EN ISO 22000, DIN EN ISO 45001and DIN EN ISO 50001. In accordance with the FSC® Chain of Custody, Südwestkarton offers its customers the use of FSC® materials. Working according to FEFCO-GMP has also been realised.
One of the current growth areas of the Panther Group and especially of Südwestkarton is the production of individually developed packaging solutions for online trade. In addition, the experts are sought-after partners for industrial customers who ship sensitive goods - here the customer base ranges from start-ups to major corporations.
With the extensive investment programme of recent years, Südwestkarton has once again significantly expanded its printing and processing capacities. The company's premises have long since grown many times over since it was founded. Modern technology ensures not only high-quality, sophisticated production but also environmentally friendly and employee-friendly, safe production.
Parallel to plant investments, this Panther factory has also traditionally focused consistently on training and further education. The promotion of young talent is based on the successful training (m/f/d) of machine and plant operators, packaging technologists, industrial clerks, warehouse logistics specialists, industrial mechanics and electronics technicians for industrial engineering, among others. Currently, the first employee is completing his dual Master's degree - Master of Arts - General Business Management. The two dual Bachelor's degree programmes in the fields of Economy and Engineering have been part of Südwestkarton's training spectrum for years.
Thanks to very well-trained employees, state-of-the-art technology and the continuing passion for corrugated board packaging, Südwestkarton is looking forward to the coming years with great confidence and is taking on the challenges of the future.
