Siegwerk plans to focus on virtual tools and services to further digitalize its customer engagement strategy going forward.
By doing so, the company wants to add value to its customer relations especially in times of limited business travel.
The company is currently exploring different communication formats and technologies to engage with customers, demonstrate products and solutions, share knowledge and provide guidance and support.
The goal is to make expertise quickly accessible, increase efficiencies to further intensify and improve interaction and cooperation while reducing time-consuming traveling.
“We want to further virtualize the customer experience by adding digital customer engagement tools such as live streaming events, digital conferences, virtual demonstrations, training or webinars,” said Ralf Hildenbrand, president Americas and member of the Board at Siegwerk.
In addition to its successful face-to-face customer events, the company now plans to translate its INKday events into a virtual concept to enable participation from all over the world.
For more than 12 years Siegwerk has been hosting its popular INKday events offering customers and experts alike a unique platform for fostering discussions around current and future industry topics.
“By increasing the digital exchange, coupled with region-specific events and personal meetings, we will be able to engage in an even faster, more effective and personalized manner going forward," Hildenbrand said.
In 2017, Siegwerk began its digital transformation as an early adopter and one of the first companies in its industry to do so.
Since then, the company has been strategically driving the expansion of its digital offerings to continually enhance the overall customer experience.
Today, Siegwerk embraces digitalization across all business areas including data-driven innovation, digitalization of processes as well as the development of new and circular business models, with services and platforms leveraging its ink and packaging know-how.
The latest milestones in the company’s digital transformation include the opening of a fully-automated state-of-the-art Blending Center at its German headquarters in Siegburg as well as the establishment of online services such as the Vendor Managed Inventory System MyInkroom and the online customer portal mySiegwerk.
Moreover, the company is continuously looking into the potential of big data and artificial intelligence for improving production cycles and gaining further efficiencies.
To build a sustainable business with long-lasting growth advantages, Siegwerk is not only driving its digital transformation but also attaches the utmost importance to proactively driving the realization of circular packaging industry.
Just recently, Siegwerk invested further resources in the future by establishing its Circular Economy Hub to specially manage the transition towards a circular economy across the company.
“We are strongly committed to always maintain a sensible balance between ecological, social and economic needs without compromising the resources of future generations,” said Bettina Horenburg, head of corporate communications at Siegwerk. “The constant launch of innovative communication technologies offers ever new opportunities for internal and external cooperation enabling us to connect and exchange even faster and more efficiently in an international environment.”
As a result, the company now plans to selectively adjust its overall presence at global industry tradeshows with either a virtual exchange or a physical presence where advantageous.
That’s why Siegwerk has now decided to not attend drupa nor interpack’s supplier trade fair “components” in 2021.
Participation in other exhibitions is currently under review. An attendance in certain Asian trade fairs has already been confirmed as relevant to further drive the regional market development in this high-growth area.
“Our decision to cancel our presence at components and drupa has also been impacted by the uncertainty in terms of the COVID-19 pandemic, its further development and mid-term consequences,” Horenburg said. “We don’t want to obligate our employees to participate in any kind of big event at the moment.”
The company expects that the overall perception of large-scale exhibitions will change as a result of the global pandemic, rather adding value to regional, small-scale specialist trade shows as well as more virtual exchanges in the future.
