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by Beth Stackpole, Contributing Editor   | Abstract: | In a major transformation of its product development process, the specialty paper producer now derives a majority of its sales from new products. |
For more than 100 years, Glatfelter comfortably enjoyed its niche as a small, regional supplier of commodity paper products, holding court east of the Mississippi. With the late 1990s came the era of globalization and specialization, however, and Glatfelter's tried-and true-formula — like that of many small paper mills — came under fire as larger companies began to trample on its terrain. Glatfelter cast a hard look at its options. CEO George H. Glatfelter and the board eventually settled on a survival plan to reinvent Glatfelter as a specialty paper provider and join the others on the road to globalization. In 1998, Glatfelter acquired Germany-based Schoeller & Hoesch GmbH & Co., which expanded the company's operations into Europe and the specialty paper market. The deal also set in motion a major transformation effort, dubbed CLEAR, that included an overhaul of Glatfelter's new product development (NPD) processes in a quest to facilitate growth. Glatfelter's accomplishments in this transformation effort have earned the company the High Achiever award in Innovation Mastery in Managing Automation's 2007 Progressive Manufacturing awards program. [Click to continue] |