Draft:Greiner Holding

Greiner AG

Founded	1868
Key people	Saori Dubourg, CEO (starting March 1st, 2024) Hannes Moser, CFO Manfred Stanek, COO Dominik Greiner (Supervisory Board)
Total equity	2,331 Mrd. Euro
Number of employees	11.626 (2022)]
Website	https://www.greiner.com

Greiner AG and the Greiner Group is a manufacturer and processor of plastic and foam based in Kremsmünster, Austria. The company is now in its fifth generation of 100% family ownership. A non-family member of the Management Board has been in charge since 2009. The company operates 120 sites in 34 countries.

History

The company was originally founded by Carl Albert Greiner on September 7, 1868 as a colonial goods and hardware store in Nürtingen (Baden-Württemberg). One of the products marketed was a home-made sparkling water that was sealed with corks. After a short time, the company founder was involved in the manufacture and marketing of cork stoppers, which were using a completely new type of cork cutting machine at the time and were also sold externally. The success was overwhelming, so that the company concentrated solely on cork production, including the marketing of the resulting waste (including firelighters). The four sons of the company founder gradually joined the company, which initially led to the establishment of the Austrian branch in Kremsmünster (Upper Austria) in 1899. Another branch was founded in Sant Feliu de Guíxols (Spain) in 1903 to secure the import of cork. Both companies, in Austria and Germany, developed well despite the world war, thanks in part to the company's own import base in San Feliu near Barcelona. All locations operated under the name C. A. Greiner und Söhne GmbH und Co KG.

In 1952, the company was granted a license to manufacture foam, which led to the next major growth phase, first in Nürtingen and later in Kremsmünster. The foam products (Moltopren) were mainly sold in the furniture and clothing industry. Greiner already employed around 500 people at that time.

In 1960, Greiner Packaging was founded in Kremsmünster as a further branch of the company for injection molding and thermoforming with a print shop and mold making. Greiner Packaging initially produced plastic packaging such as cans for the pharmaceutical industry, yoghurt pots and disposable tableware.

Shortly after the start of injection molding, the first petri dishes made of polystyrene were produced in Nürtingen in 1963, marking the birth of the Greiner Bio-One division. Prior to this, glass Petri dishes had been used in pharmacy and medicine.

In 1977, another division was established, which today operates under the name Greiner Extrusion and is the world market leader in the production of plastic profiles and the corresponding machine tools.

In 1983, the Greiner Perfoam division developed from a foam plant in Linz, Upper Austria, which was taken over from Semperit. The company produces visible parts and acoustic components for the automotive industry. Today, Greiner Perfoam is part of the NEVEON division.

Based on the foam division, the production of aircraft seat cushions began in 1986. Today, this division operates under the name Greiner aerospace[6] and, like Greiner PURTEC, which manufactures thermal insulation for boilers, is part of the NEVEON division.

The foam production activities were bundled in 1992 as part of a joint venture with the Belgian company Recticel and operate throughout Europe under the name Eurofoam. Initially, after the fall of the Iron Curtain, the foam markets in Hungary and Poland were developed. The joint venture was later expanded to include Germany.

From July 1, 2010, Eurofoam was managed together with Greiner MULTIfoam under the newly founded Greiner Foam, which also has its headquarters in Kremsmünster. In 2012, Greiner Foam founded a joint venture (Unifoam) in South Africa and thus Greiner's first production site on the African continent. In April 2020, Greiner increased its stake in Eurofoam to 100%. Since February 1, 2021, Greiner Foam International GmbH has been operating under the name NEVEON Holding GmbH and the Greiner Foam division is now called NEVEON.

Company Structure

Since mid-2014, all company divisions have been managed by Greiner Holding AG, Kremsmünster, which was founded in 1986. The company has been operating under the name Greiner AG since October 2018.

As of May 2022, Greiner's three divisions were as follows: Greiner Foam has been managed as NEVEON since February 2021, and Eurofoam has no longer been a joint venture since mid-2020, but is wholly owned by Greiner. The former Greiner Extrusion division was sold to Nimbus on December 21, 2021.

• Greiner Bio-One: is active in the field of medical technology. The Preanalytics business unit develops and produces collection systems for human and veterinary samples from blood, urine and saliva, as well as digital system solutions (Greiner eHealth Technologies), which ensure greater efficiency and patient safety in the preanalytical process. The BioScience business segment is dedicated to special products for cultivating and analyzing cell cultures as well as microplates for high-throughput screening. The third business area is Mediscan, a competent service provider in the field of sterilization of medical products, sterilization of food packaging or functional improvement of plastics and semiconductors by means of ionizing radiation.
• Greiner Packaging: produces plastic packaging for the food and non-food sectors. The product range includes plastic cups, cups made of cardboard-plastic combinations (including recycling-friendly self-separating yoghurt cups for Austria's largest dairy Berglandmilch), plastic bottles, containers and buckets, as well as customized plastic parts and products and their assembling and finishing.
• NEVEON: Neveon Holding GmbH (proper spelling NEVEON) is a company for the production and processing of polyurethane foams with headquarters in Kremsmünster and holding headquarters in Vienna. Neveon was created in 2021 by merging the foam activities of Greiner AG. Eurofoam, Greiner aerospace, Greiner Multifoam, Greiner Perfoam, Greiner Purtec and Unifoam were merged. Neveon Holding produces at 57 locations in 17 countries, including Poland, the Czech Republic, China, South Africa, Germany, Austria and the USA.

Neveon is a leading global foam group and offers flexible and composite polyurethane foams for many areas of application - from the comfort sector to the mobility sector and a wide range of special applications. Neveon was created at the beginning of 2021 through the merger of Eurofoam, Greiner aerospace, Greiner MULTIfoam, Greiner Perfoam, Greiner PURTEC and Unifoam.

Greiner AG also includes the innovation incubator Greiner Innoventures, which invests in start-ups with a digital or circular economy focus, for example in the areas of mattress recycling, bioplastics and soundproofing panels. The Greiner day nursery is organized as an association in cooperation with the municipality of Kremsmünster.

Innovation at Greiner

Greiner AG also includes the innovation incubator Greiner Innoventures, which invests in start-ups with a digital or circular economy focus, for example in the areas of mattress recycling, bioplastics and soundproofing panels. As a corporate business angel, Greiner Innoventures works with start-ups to further develop their ideas. Greiner Innoventures is based at the weXelerate innovation center in Vienna.

Greiner as employer

Apprenticeship training

Greiner has been training young people to become skilled workers in its own training workshop since the early 1990s. In 2019, the foundation stone was laid for today's training center at the Greiner Campus in Kremsmünster, where apprentices are currently being trained in seven predominantly technical professions. The apprentices have access to state-of-the-art technology at the training center. Around 100 apprentices are currently being trained here for all divisional companies. Apprenticeships are also held at locations in Germany and Switzerland.

Greiner trains apprentices in a total of seven different professions:

• Plastics technology
• Mechatronics
• Process Technology
• Metal technology
• Electrical engineering
• IT technology
• Industrial merchant

A special feature is that the apprentices are taught in the company's own training center in Kremsmünster, where modern machines and equipment are available. The team of trainers imparts specialist knowledge and practical skills, thus enabling the apprentices to receive state-of-the-art training. Training lasts between three and four years, depending on the apprenticeship. After completing the apprenticeship, there is the option of practicing the profession in Austria or at one of Greiner's other 120 locations. In Austria, Greiner trains around 25-30 apprentices per year.

Greiner Academy

The Greiner Academy is the company's internal training center for all Greiner employees, which operates across all divisions and countries. Since 2000, the Academy has been offering seminars, training courses and workshops on various specialist areas in the work context, as well as on topics relating to health, communication and personal development. The training courses are offered in both face-to-face and virtual formats such as online training or blended learning. One of Greiner's defined goals is for every employee to invest at least 16 hours in further training by 2025.

Compatibility of family and career

The compatibility of work and family is a top priority at Greiner. The Kremsmünster (Austria) site has had its own crèche for employees' children since 2003. Since the expansion of the crèche in 2011, 24 childcare places have been available, which can be used by both Greiner employees and external parties.

Sustainability

Greiner has set itself ambitious sustainability targets and has submitted its climate targets to the Science Based Target initiative. By 2030, the company aims to be climate-neutral (for Scope 1 and 2 emissions) and switch to a circular economy.

Sustainability efforts are managed via a Group-wide "Blue Plan" strategy, in which Greiner sets itself detailed targets. For example, the proportion of self-produced green electricity is to increase from 0.19% (2022) to 2.5% in 2030, while the proportion of reusable, recyclable or compostable packaging from Greiner Packaging is to increase from 87% (2021) to 100% (2025). The amount of waste sent to landfill is to be reduced to zero in the EU by 2025 and worldwide by 2030.

Greiner is a member of the UN Global Compact network and is involved in the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's New Plastics Economy Global Commitment. Together with other companies and the WWF, Greiner is a supporter of the UN agreement against plastic pollution that is currently being negotiated.

In the EcoVadis CSR rating, Greiner Packaging achieved 75 out of 100 points, placing it in the top five percent of companies.

Awards

• Austria’s Best Managed Company 2022
• K3® r100 wins Green Packaging Star Award 2023
• World Star Award for the sustainability-focused redesign of a yogurt packaging
• WirtschaftsOscars 2022
• Global Player Award 2019
• Pegasus 2023, Juni 2023
• apprentigo Lehrlings-Hackaton, Oktober 2023

Other

In 1992, C. A. Greiner und Söhne Gesellschaft m.b.H. received the state award and was allowed to use the federal coat of arms in business transactions. However, this right expired due to restructuring in 1999 and 2001. However, the Greiner Packaging sub-company received this award again before 2006.

In connection with the hunt for the Heilbronn phantom, it became known in March 2009 that various police departments in Germany, Austria and France were using swabs (cotton swabs) from Greiner Bio One International AG to collect DNA traces at crime scenes, although according to the company they are not at all suitable for this purpose, as they are sterile but contain DNA residues from the production process.Such DNA contamination led to the erroneous hunt for a "phantom perpetrator".In fact, there had been no perpetrator, but the investigators and the forensic laboratories had been fooled by the DNA contamination of the swabs. After the investigation mishap became known, the company pointed out on its website that the swab kits purchased by the police departments were not suitable for this purpose, which was noted from the outset in the product description and the instruction leaflet. At the end of July 2009, the Stuttgart public prosecutor's office announced that there would be no investigation proceedings against the suppliers of the swab kits (Greiner Bio-One).

In June 2015, the German Federal Cartel Office imposed fines of EUR 75 million on the five automotive suppliers Autoneum, Carcoustics from Leverkusen, the subsidiary Greiner Perfoam, Ideal Automotive from Burgebrach and the German subsidiary of International Automotive Components (IAC) in Düsseldorf for illegal price fixing in the period from 2005 to 2013.

The Greiner Bridge in Kremsmünster was opened on November 14, 2022. The total costs of the project amounted to around five million euros. After deducting almost one million euros in proceeds from the sale of the old bridge to ÖBB and a subsidy of 1.2 million euros from the state of Upper Austria, the two financing partners, namely the municipality of Kremsmünster and Greiner, each paid an equal share of the costs of 1.45 million euros.

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Categories:

• Manufacturing companies of Austria
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