Berlin Packaging

Berlin Packaging is a major North American supplier of packaging, closures and related services to manufacturers, fillers and brand owners in a wide array of industries, including beverage, food, personal care, pharmaceutical, household care, industrial and coatings sectors. In 2015, Chicago, Illinois-based Berlin Packaging reported sales of $1 billion.[1]

In addition to its mainstream rigid packaging products, the firm offers packaging and supplies for laboratory environments as well as systems for transporting hazardous and temperature-sensitive goods. It also provides custom packaging design, consulting, and financing services.

At the end of 2015, the firm had 36 U.S. sales offices in 21 U.S. states and Puerto Rico as well as more than 50 dedicated or third-party warehouse locations across the United States.

History

Founding

Berlin Packaging was formed in 1988[2] when lawyer Andrew T. Berlin joined his father in purchasing Alco Packaging, a longtime Chicago-based container company, which was renamed Berlin Packaging. Alco earned $69 million in annual sales at the time, and its roots trace back to 1898, when Riekes Container was founded, a firm purchased by Alco in 1975.

Acquisitions

In 2000, Berlin Packaging acquired Knap-Pac Containers,[3] a wholesale provider of industrial and personal care packaging. Three years later it purchased Freund Container,[4] a packaging, closure and industrial-supplies distributor, maintaining it as an operating division.

In 2010, the firm acquired two companies: All-Pak Inc.[5] of Bridgeville, Pennsylvania, a supplier of rigid packaging products and services, and Continental Packaging Solutions,[6] a multinational supplier of glass and plastic containers and closures headquartered in Chicago. Both companies were merged into Berlin’s larger packaging business.

In 2012, Berlin Packaging acquired two more companies: Lerman Container,[7] a Connecticut-based packaging supplier, and United States Container Corporation,[8] a California-based packaging distributor focused on industrial applications. Again, both companies were merged into Berlin’s overall enterprise.

In 2015, the company made another two acquisitions: Vivid Packaging,[9] a Cleveland-based packaging supplier, and Diablo Valley Packaging,[10] a $125 million supplier with an emphasis on glass packaging.

Milestones

In 1989, the firm established its Global Packaging Group, followed a year later by the formation of E3, a consulting subsidiary. The company announced its Berlin Financial Services subsidiary in 1991 and opened its Studio One Eleven package design studio in 1999.

In 2007, Investcorp, a global asset management firm, acquired a majority ownership interest in Berlin Packaging.[11]

In 2014, Investcorp sold to Oak Hill Capital Partners, which acquired a majority stake in the company. The transaction valued Berlin Packaging at $1.43 billion.[12]

Structure

Product Lines

The firm designs, sources, inventories, and distributes stock and custom packaging, closures, dispensing systems, labels, shrink bands and other products. Its container lines include plastic bottles and jars, glass bottles and jars, metal cans and tins, pails and drums. Child-resistant, tamper-evident, and non-dispensing container caps are leading products in its closures line, while its dispensing systems include household and industrial trigger sprayers, lotion and treatment pumps, fine mist sprayers and foamer systems.

Divisions

In addition to its core packaging operations, the firm has a number of specialty product and service divisions:

Operations

The company's operations are based on a PeopleSoft suite by Oracle. The system was installed in 2001, and Berlin received awards in 2006 and 2007 from CIO Magazine for their creative use of the tools.[13][14] The company has upgraded the software numerous times, with the most recent major upgrade in 2012.[15]

In 2004, it became the first company in its sector to be ISO 9001 certified.[16]

It was re-certified to the ISO 9001: 2008 standard in 2010. It also maintains Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) certification.[17]

Berlin was profiled in The Human Equation, by Jeffrey Pfeffer, a Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.[18] Its corporate culture was cited as being particularly effective at recognizing the value of people and aligning management processes with business strategy.

Ownership

In October 2014, investment manager Investcorp completed the sale of Berlin Packaging to Oak Hill Capital Partners for $1.43 billion.[19] Oak Hill is the majority owner with a significant minority stake held by Andrew T. Berlin. The executive management team also has ownership in the company.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Berlin Packaging Acquires Diablo Valley Packaging – 2nd Acquisition in 3 Months". November 10, 2015. Retrieved November 16, 2015.
  2. ↑ Lindsey Grant (December 1, 2005). "One on One: Andrew Berlin, Packaging perfection". Smart Business Chicago. HighBeam Research. Retrieved October 17, 2014.
  3. ↑ "Packaging World". February 1, 2000. Retrieved February 29, 2012.
  4. ↑ "Plastics News". April 21, 2003. Retrieved February 29, 2012.
  5. ↑ "Plastics News". February 8, 2010. Retrieved February 29, 2012.
  6. ↑ "Berlin Packaging Acquires Continental Packaging Solutions". Manufacturing.Net. December 15, 2010. Retrieved October 17, 2014.
  7. ↑ "Packaging-Gateway.com". May 15, 2012. Retrieved October 8, 2014.
  8. ↑ "Berlin Packaging buys U.S. Container Corp.". L.A.BizJournal.com. October 25, 2012. Retrieved October 8, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Berlin Packaging Acquires Vivid Packaging". Berlin Packaging. September 1, 2015. Retrieved November 16, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Berlin Packaging Acquires Diablo Valley Packaging – 2nd Acquisition in 3 Months". November 10, 2015. Retrieved November 16, 2015.
  11. ↑ "Global asset management firm Investcorp has agreed to acquire a majority ownership interest in Berlin Packaging". HighBeam Research. August 17, 2007. Retrieved October 17, 2014.
  12. ↑ Mike Spector (August 24, 2014). "Wall Street Journal". Retrieved October 15, 2014.
  13. ↑ "CIO, page 104". August 15, 2006. Retrieved October 8, 2014.
  14. ↑ "CIO". 2007. Retrieved October 8, 2014.
  15. ↑ Heather Caliendo (July 23, 2012). "Berlin Packaging views ERP system as a competitive advantage". Plastics Today. Retrieved October 8, 2014.
  16. ↑ "Berlin Packaging gains recertification to the ISO 9001:2008 standard". Packaging World. March 18, 2011. Retrieved October 17, 2014.
  17. ↑ "Berlin Packaging Offers a Variety of Options". November 30, 2008. Retrieved October 17, 2014.
  18. ↑ Jeffrey Pfeffer. The Human Equation: Building Profits by Putting People First. Harvard Business School Press.
  19. ↑ Investcorp to complete $1.43 billion Berlin Packaging sale to Oak Hill in October. Reuters, 1 October 2014

External links

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