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Tag: Vipap Videm Krško

  • Mojca Mia Berger is the new CFO of Slovenian paper mill Vipap Videm Krško

    Mojca Mia Berger is the new CFO of Slovenian paper mill Vipap Videm Krško

    RIDG Holding Group, the new Czech owner of Slovenian paper mill Vipap Videm Krško, continues to restructure and modernize teh company.

    The top management is newly expanded by Mojca Mia Berger, the new CFO, and Aleš Lavrič, Director of Logistics.

    Last November, the company appointed the new CEO Petr Domin, and in March it introduced the new HR Director Vesna Kemper.

    The new management aims to streamline the operation of the company and to increase its flexibility, the level of education of its employees, and the profitability of the company.

    Who is Mojca Mia Berger

    Mojca Mia Berger has previously worked as the Head of Finance & Controlling for American & Efird (A&E Europe). She has extensive experience not only at the local but also at the regional level.

    During her 20-year career, she has held senior positions in the finance departments of Hewlett-Packard, Knauf Insulation, and the Imperial Tobacco Group.

    Mojca Mia Berger graduated from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Ljubljana.

    “I am glad to expand Vipap’s management and participate in the development of its strategy, including restructuring and subsequent optimization… I will primarily focus on improving work with data and the management information system,” Mojca Mia Berger explains her role at Vipap Videm Krško.

    New investments in the paper mill

    The company’s latest investments in the paper mill include the installation of a new WIN CC operating system in machines or the modernization of a cutting unit worth € 350.000 (more than CZK 9 million).

    Last year a new bearing roller worth € 89.500 (almost CZK 2.5 million) was installed, and this April also a second support roller with a new elastic lining worth € 47.500 (over CZK 1.2 million).

    These investments are among the key steps that are turning Vipap Videm Krško into one of the most modern paper mills in Central Europe.

  • The new Czech owner of Slovenian paper mill Vipap bets on flexibility

    The new Czech owner of Slovenian paper mill Vipap bets on flexibility

    While until now newsprint and magazine paper accounted for 90% of the production of Slovenian paper mill Vipap Videm Krško, its share will fall by half within three years.

    As a part of the already started restructuring, the new Czech owner RIDG Holding wants to reorient the company more towards the production of food packaging paper. It invests more than a quarter of a billion Czech crowns in the modern technologies that will enable it.

    RIDG Holding took over Slovenian paper mill last year and the company under its leadership ended the calendar year with a significantly positive operating profit EBITDA of € 7 million and a positive cash flow.

    The new owner, in addition to redesigning the company’s processes, also immediately started investing in technology modernization and employees development, in order to make the company more flexible.

    One of the key innovations in Vipap paper mill is the expansion of the product range

    In addition to newsprint, magazines and advertising leaflets, currently also paper bags, carrier bags and laminated paper is being added.

    This segment of production is on the rise due to the fact that a number of European countries have decided to replace the plastic packaging with paper. In addition, new technologies will make it possible to bring to the market the food packaging, that is durable and at the same time fully recyclable.

    In addition to the expanding product portfolio, the Slovenian government’s support programs also helped Vipap Videm Krško to maintain employment during the coronavirus crisis.

    Like many other countries, including the Czech Republic, it has introduced the so-called kurzarbeit. The extraordinary commitment of employees also played an important role.

    Management of Vipap Videm Krško now estimates that in the event of a favorable development, the company could return to pre-crisis level at the end of this year.

    Completion of the restructuring, which is to direct the paper mill towards long-term competitiveness and growth, is planned for the turn of 2021 and 2022.

  • The new Czech owner started the restructuring of Vipap Videm Krško

    The new Czech owner started the restructuring of Vipap Videm Krško

    • Slovenian paper mill Vipap Videm Krško appointed Vesna Kemper HR Director. Among other, she will be in charge of the personnel part of the restructuring in the enterprise with almost 400 employees.
    • The company owned by the Czech group RIDG Holding wants to increase the flexibility and substitutability of current employees in order to effectively modernize production and stabilize. A target is also its higher attractiveness for qualified job seekers. 
    • In addition to restructuring tasks, also the impact of the coronavirus pandemic remains in focus of the new HR Director. In recent weeks it caused outages in the supply of raw materials, a partial interruption of production and the forced leaving of a third of employees at home.

    Slovenian paper mill Vipap Videm Krško has started restructuring under the new Czech owner RIDG Holding. The newly appointed HR Director Vesna Kemper will be in charge of the process, which aims to modernize production and stabilize the company in the field of human resources.

    The manager, who previously worked for the Slovenian toll operator DARS, aims to increase the flexibility and substitutability of almost 400 current employees, set up a new career path system and ensure that paper mill has enough motivated and qualified employees in the future.

    “Especially in the production part we need to increase the qualifications of our employees so that they can perform a wider range of jobs and tasks than before and also can better substitute each other,” describes Kemper, who joined Vipap Videm Krško on March 1st.

    In addition, according to her, there is a need to start working systematically on reputation of the paper mill as an attractive employer.

    “The town of Krško is relatively far from the capital Ljubljana, so it is more difficult to get new qualified workers in the surroundings. That is why we must also address the candidates from a greater distance and show them why it is worth commuting to work,” says Kemper. As an example of another strong Slovenian employer, whose reputation helps to attract quality employees, even though it is located far from Ljubljana, mentions the pharmaceutical company Krka.

    However, Kemper has had to put tasks in the field of personnel restructuring on the other track in recent weeks. Due to the pandemic of a new type of coronavirus, the company is facing outages in the supply of paper for recycling, which has resulted in a partial interruption of production.

    “Therefore, about a third of the employees had to stay at home temporarily, waiting for the operation to resume, to get back as soon as possible. As in the Czech Republic, also the Slovenian government has taken measures such as covering salary of these workers up to 80%. Also will cover significant part of contributions for all who continue to work,” she describes.

    Following the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, the restructuring of Vipap Videm Krško will continue with an evaluation of business and production processes and then with their reorganization.

    Later company plans to increase the flexibility among employees by preparing new job descriptions. It also intends to support the upskilling of workers and their long-term professional development. In addition, it plans to adjust the career path system so that employees can grow not only on the basis of education, but also on the basis of skills and competence.

    According to Kemper, at this time it is still too early to talk about how many employees the company will have after the completion of the restructuring, which should last at least a few months. The goal is to retain as many current employees as possible.