Symrise Completes its Strategic Reorientation
10 May 2006
Consistent structural re-orientation of the entire corporation – consolidation into two divisions – supply chain and operations integrated into divisions
Holzminden, May 9, 2006. Our customers have come to demand more and more of their flavor and fragrance suppliers. They are not only looking for more sophisticated products and holistic solutions, they also expect their partners to be innovative, reliable, service orientated and deliver within ever more demanding timeframes.
With this knowledge, Gerold Linzbach, who took office as CEO in March 2005, launched a strategic restructuring of Symrise globally. Under his leadership, many changes have taken place since last summer: the Aroma Chemicals and Cosmetics Ingredients divisions were consolidated into one new unit, the Sensory Ingredients division. The structure of the Operations division was established globally; all support functions such as IT, Logistics, Technology and the Environment, and Corporate Communications were outsourced. Futhermore corporate wide functions such as Human Resources, Finances and Legal Services were regrouped into a ‘Corporate Center‘.
Symrise’s far reaching initiative “Fit for Growth”, which optimized numerous processes and increased efficiency, is now complete. The supply chain performance is achieving near perfect results: ie Symrise has now a delivery reliability rate of 99%, complaints have declined considerably, the company’s accident rate has dropped to nearly zero, and its per capita performance has improved considerably.
There remain two more steps in this ambitious restructuring. The first is to create a new division. The two currently separate business units Fragrances and Sensory Ingredients will be merged into a new division. This will offer the complete value chain from aroma chemicals, fragrance compositions, and cosmetic ingredients. As Gerold Linzbach explains: “Intelligent and tailored product solutions from one source is what sets us apart from other, more traditional, suppliers.”
The second step is to further develop the entrepreneurial spirit and absolute customer focus as the way of working for all Symrise people. Going forward the previously independent Operations Division will be integrated into the divisions. This will give Symrise a stronger position and influence in the market and further strengthen its client service delivery. “Prior to this restructuring more than half of our people were not directly linked to the business. Now everyone at Symrise will be part of sales and will serve our clients in one way or another”, explains Linzbach.
“It is our ambition to create a culture which never accepts the status quo, and constantly pushes the boundaries to the benefit of our clients. This would be reflected in the confidence of our employees and their desire to continuously explore and experiment. The new organization and structure will help us achieve this”, adds the CEO.
In line with the new restructuring, Linzbach presents his new management team: Achim Daub, previously Global President Fragrances, will head up the new division, Heinz-Jürgen Bertram, who has until now been head of Global Operations, will take over from Andrei Mikhalevsky and will, going forward, be responsible for Symrise’s Flavors division. Rainer Grimm will retain his current CFO role.
Goran Lundberg, the chairman of the advisory board and a representative of EQT, the investor which holds 76% of Symrise, has expressed his approval about the new business developments: “With this final step in its ambitious restructuring programme, Symrise is in truly excellent shape. Its new structure creates more transparency – in all aspects, including on the international capital markets,” Lundberg says.
