About Forbo Forbo is a global company, which employs some 5,800 people worldwide.Forbo has leading market positions with its attractive product portfolioand brand names of global reputation.
Forbo strives to expand and further its existing product range andencourage innovation. The Forbo Group attaches great importance to qualityassurance, quality enhancement and environmental compatibility.
Our history
1928
Set up of Continentale Linoleum Union, a loose grouping of Europeanlinoleum manufacturers in Germany (DLW), The Netherlands (Krommenie),Sweden (Forshaga), Switzerland (Giubiasco) and France (Sarlino).
1928-1960
The production of inlaid linoleum began in 1895, using a type of screen-printing process in which collared granules of linoleum “mix” were applieddirectly onto the backing canvas. (Production ends 1965).
1933-1939
As a result of political influences during the war years DLW drops out. 1950-1960
Women laying pre-cut linoleum shapes onto patterned canvas.
1960-1968
The Group expands into the manufacturing of substitute products, carpetsand PVC flooring.
1968
Set up of new central management.
1974
Renaming of Continental Linoleum Union to Forbo.
1980-1988
By strengthening its core competences and by acquiring further companies,Forbo evolves into an international group that operates on all fivecontinents of the world. Forbo’s product-line organization isdecentralized, the know-how acquired throughout the years in transferred toother activities, enlarged and developed.
2000
The company implements a new corporate strategy by concentration on thefour core strategic business units (SBUs) Linoleum, Cushion Vinyl, Beltingand Adhesives. The industry activities Extruded Profiles, Decorative Filmsand Coated Textiles are divested during 2000. With these divestments Forbois enhancing its focus on core activities. -2- Mission Statement
Forbo will focus more intensely than before on its core businesseswhich offer strong and
sustained potential for earnings growth, sales growth, market leadershipand synergies. All
Strategic Business Units must secure leading positions either worldwide orin their most
important markets. High-quality and innovative products are the basis for
satisfied customers.The sectors that we have designated as strategic business units areLinoleum and Cushion
Vinyl in the Flooring Division, Belting (conveyor and drive belts made fromsynthetic materials)
and Adhesives in the Industry Specialties Division. The Forbo organization is product driven. The business units,responsible for a specific core product, carry responsibility for thebusiness success. In particular, the units have to ensure profitablegrowth. Our mission is to achieve a sustained increase in enterprise value.Each and every operational unit must satisfy this requirement. The bestguarantee for the success is a combination of strong earnings power andgrowth. Our business strategy is closely and consistently geared to thecreation of value.[pic] Werner Kummer
Chief Executive Officer EnvironmentalCaring for the environment is a must. Our quality of life and – even moreimportant – the viability of future generations will essentially depend onit. The responsible interaction with our environment is in fact gaining inimportance. This is a task that future oriented companies cannot afford toneglect. Responsible operation in consideration of the environment’s needsis a substantial precondition of sustainable entrepreneurial success. Thishas been Forbo’s credo since the company’s foundation in 1928: Producingenvironmentally compatible products with appropriate methods of production,and as economically as possible.
Forbo Flooring products Strategic Business Units Linoleum and Cushion Vinyl make up Forbo´sFlooring division. Carpet and Parquet Flooring complete the division’sportfolio.
Carpets
The market for textile flooring still continues to contract. Since thebusiness unit carpets managed to stay clear of unprofitable sales, theoverall sales in 2000 did not exceed CHF 213 million. The production of tufted floor coverings was moved to the French plantin Reims, and the production facility in Wermelskirchen (Germany) wasclosed down. All Swiss-based textile floor covering operations had been
concentrated in Ennenda (Switzerland). In the business year 2000 arestructuring of the company’s European carpet operations was carried out.To achieve this objective, the Carpets Business Unit was reorganized. In the business year 2000 a restructuring of the company’s Europeancarpet operations was carried out. To achieve this objective, the CarpetsBusiness Unit was reorganized. The restructuring measures were completed bythe closure of the production plant in Wermelskrichen (Germany).-3-
Cushion Vinyl
The year 2000 was characterized by difficult market conditions. Theproblem of excess capacities was further aggravated. Despite theseconditions, Forbo succeeded in maintaining its position in the majorEuropean markets. Thanks to its extraordinary design and excellent benefitsthe inlay chips technology of Forbo Novilon® gained further headway interms of market popularity. In 2000, sales grew by 2% to CHF 346 million.Business in the European core markets remained under pressure. The exportbusiness to Eastern Europe and overseas brought some compensation. At Forbo Novilon produktiebedrijven bv in Coevorden (Netherlands) thefirst phase of a new production line had been finished in 1999. In thecurrent business year the second phase of the new plant will be completedand put into operation. This will give Forbo the necessary edge inproduction technology to manufacture innovative cushion vinyl. Forbo Sarlino SA in Reims (France) expanded its market position invinyl floor coverings offering strong sound insulation characteristics.
Linoleum
With a market share of more than 60%, Forbo is the world’s leadingsupplier of Linoleum, one of the Group’s core products. In 2000, salesamounted to CHF 411 million, an increase of 2% compared to the year before.Substantial marketing efforts were one major factor in achieving thisresult. In America and Asia linoleum demand was up 27%. The new Artoleum® 2design collection launched in 1999 was met with great acceptance in themarket. Forbo’s collections attracted great attention at Europe’s leading
trade fairs, Domotex in Hanover and Bâtimat in Paris.Forbo also performed especially strong in North America, where Linoleum,although commanding a relatively small share of the market, continues toachieve greater acceptance. The Forbo range is excellently positioned inthis market: In September 2000, the US journal “Floor Focus” put linoleumfrom Forbo in first place in the design category for the second time in arow. In early January it was ranked number one by the US “Design Journal”,and Artoleum® received the highly prestigious 1999 “Platinum Award forDesign Excellence” in the flooring category. In the USA Forbo has a highlyeffective sales and marketing team. The two existing training centers forflooring techniques were strengthened by a third one that opened last year.
To mark its 100th anniversary in 1999, the Dutch Forbo Krommenie B.V. organized an exhibition of Linoleum art prints in the Cobra Museum in Amstelveen, Netherlands. The exhibition, entitled “From Kandinsky to Corneille”, was highly acclaimed by public and art critics.
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Parquet Flooring
The Group’s sole remaining parquet-flooring factory, located in Sweden,successfully boosted its sales to CHF 39.1 million, due to theextraordinarily high-quality design of the ready-to-lay parquet flooringproduced there. In the Group’s new management structure this local parquetbusiness will be assigned to the Linoleum Strategic Business Unit. Its mainfunction is to strengthen the Group’s market position in Scandinavia.
Adhesives
The adhesives segment achieved sales of CHF 207 million in 2000 – astagnation compared to the previous year. The main reason for thisstagnation is the market development in Germany and Switzerland. However,business started to pick up again in the fourth quarter. Sales of Forbo hot-melt adhesives for industrial applications recorded above average growth. Forbo made very good progress in the flooring segment, mainly thanks toits systematic customer training in floor laying techniques and its new,
environmentally friendly product range. An innovative welding rod range waslaunched for the Artoleum® product line. At Eurocol B.V. in Wormerveer(Nethelands), the new development and training canter came on stream. In1999, Forbo set up a distribution company to expand the Group’s presence inPoland. The German distribution company Forbo Uli-Chemie GmbH wasintegrated into Forbo Erfurt GmbH at the end of 1999.Belting
Belting comprises conveyor and processing belts, drive and machinebelts and is produced by the Siegling group. Last year under review salesgenerated by belting products increased by dynamic 14% to CHF 348 million.Record sales were reached in Asia (+30%) and in the USA (+20%). Therecovery of Europe’s mechanical engineering industry made it possible toexpand business volume in this segment. Siegling’s American operation tookadvantage of the buoyant state of the US economy and strengthened itsmarket presence. In 1999, Siegling won the largest order in company historyfor conveyor belts to equip a new package-handling center in the USA. TheSiegling Group also achieved higher sales in Asia, especially in Japan,where the economy saw a slight improvement. The Group’s Chinese businesspartner sold Forbo its 20% minority stake in Forbo Siegling (Shenyang).This made the company into a wholly owned Forbo subsidiary in January 2000.
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In the 1999 business year, Siegling as industry leader haddeveloped new products, which would allow the company to further expandsales in selected market segments. These products include, amongst others,a new range of drive and machine belts for the textile and paper industriesand new processing belts for the textile printing industry. The large-scale investment in the new production plant in Hanover(Germany) was completed in 1999. Further funds were invested in renewingand extending the drive and machine belts production facilities at Siegling(Switzerland) SA in Wallbach. To counter falling prices in the belting
markets, operations in the year 2000 aimed to reduce costs in targetedareas.-6-
CONCLUSIONS
In my work I wrote about company FORBO. The Forbo is group develops,produces and markets products and systems in its two Divisions, Flooringand Industry Specialties, each of which is made up of several businessunits. These business units are focused on specific product groups andcarry responsibility for sales and income. Since our business units arelinked effectively they profit from numerous synergies. Thanks to the Group’s attractive product portfolio and brand names thatare well established worldwide, Forbo occupies leading positions in itscore markets. Forbo has an excellent store of product, manufacturing and marketexpertise which it employs to the full in order to exploit existing synergypotential, innovative thrust and to selectively expand its marketactivities.
Forbo’s objective is to achieve a sustained increase in shareholder valueby focusing on profitable core products, through organic growth andacquisitions and by systematically gearing its activities to marketrequirements. The Forbo Group has approximately 5’800 employees worldwide. Forbo has large assortment of flooring products like: Carpets Cushion Vinyl The year 2000 was characterized by difficult market conditions. Theproblem of excess capacities was further aggravated. Despite theseconditions, Forbo succeeded in maintaining its position in the majorEuropean markets. Thanks to its extraordinary design and excellent benefitsthe inlay chips technology of Forbo Novilon® gained further headway interms of market popularity. Linoleum With a market share of more than 60%, Forbo is the world’s leadingsupplier of Linoleum, one of the Group’s core products. In 2000, salesamounted to CHF 411 million, an increase of 2% compared to the year before.
Parquet Flooring
Adhesives Belting
This company has big success in the world, but I think that Forbo willbe bigger, stronger and more famous in the world.
-7- VILNIUS COLLEGE OF CONSTRUCTION
Prepared by:
Lecturer:
Vilnius 2001 m.
CONTENS
ABOUT FOBO………………………………………………………………………….2
MISSIONSTATEMENT………………………………………………………….……….. 3
CUCHION VINYL ………………………………………………………… 4
PARQUET FLOORING……………………………………………………5
BELTING………………………………………………………………………………………….. 6
CONCLUSIONS…………………………………………………………… .7
LIST OF LITERATURE……………………………………………………8
LIST OF LITERATURE
NET SITE: www.forbo .com
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