Case: Naturepak integration falls into place

Welcome to our new Elopak colleagues in Morocco and Saudi Arabia

Congratulations to all those involved in the integration of Naturepak and its customers in the Middle East & North Africa into the Elopak family.

The integration of Naturepak and our new Elopak sites in Morocco and Saudi Arabia has been successfully completed. The six month process followed the announcement in October 2021 of Elopak’s acquisition of Naturepak, the leading provider of fresh liquid cartons and packaging systems in the MENA region.

Project workstreams fulfil all tasks

The integration process came to a smooth finish in early 2023 thanks to the commitment and focus on an international cross-functional project team lead by Roland Ruckstuhl.

Roland explains; “Whilst there were challenges to overcome, we succeeded because we were well prepared. The project workstreams fulfilled over 150 tasks in six months thanks to a very structured approach with good communication throughout, not just within the planned bi-weekly meetings. Decisions had to be taken quickly every day and the key people had to travel to be in person at both sites regularly– you cannot run an integration by Teams!”

Improving our daily lives

Hanan Khanchaoui is supply chain manager at Elopak Morocco. She has worked at Naturepak since 2013 and was pivotal during the merger process.  “There has been a lot of change, including training on various subjects, all of which has improved our daily working lives. Implementing the code of conduct and compliance has been central, and the Elopak culture of respect, trust and positivity has motivated everyone.”

Mohammed Yousufuddin (Yousuf)  is the plant manager of our new Elopak factory in Saudi Arabia. “Vision, Mission & Promises and employee empowerment are all new topics to us. The main challenges were the adaptation of a new culture and new standards, but with Elopak’s support it became easy for us to work through the challenges together. The Elopak mission to take care of its workers with their safety as a priority has already had an impact on the hearts and minds of all our staff.  We can see the increased interest and pride in their work and everyone is excited to pursue their dreams with Elopak.

Stepping up to the challenge

Hassen Khemiri, General Manager for Elopak in Morocco echoes this for his team. He explains, “All practices and procedures are fully integrated. We can see a new mindset from all our staff, who have stepped up to work on the next level. The project workstream structure and the efforts made to respect and understand our different cultures made the process very smooth.”

One of the most significant changes that took place was to improve the living conditions for the many workers at both facilities.  Yousif, Hassen and Hanan highlight this as one of the most important changes implemented. “The housing of the workers were inspected and everyone was immediately moved to better and safer accommodation improving their health and well being. They are now more rested and ready for work and productivity is increasing accordingly,” explains Yousuf.

Fair Treatment and respect

During the integration process, we were all eager to understand and respect the local cultures, regulations and labour laws. “It was also important to give all staff fair treatment, increased salaries where necessary and new contracts that demonstrated their value and contribution to Elopak. With the new structure and ways of working for everyone it is a very open ethos of communication,” adds Jannicke Granviken Woxmyhr, Workstream lead HR.

For Hassen, the open culture has been transformational.  “This is the first time in my life and over 30 years career that I have had this type of interaction and open communication. We are all now fully committed and dedicated to our Elopak journey and the new opportunities open to both staff and customers in our region.”

The Elopak Spirit

Roland adds, “We have firmly formed the Elopak spirit.  Welcome to all our new colleagues in Morocco and Saudi Arabia and thank you to all who supported the successful integration of Naturepak.”