employee newspaper for the 2D Group apr il 2013

Dear Fellow 2D-Group Associates!It is my pleasure to present to you the foreword for our fourth edition of 2DAY News.

Since 2011, my management team and I have been leading all SÜDDEKOR activities in North America. In 2011, we set the foundation for our operation by realigning our organizational capabilities, removing almost all existing functional silos, and by implementing better communication strategies. In short, we created a new business structure that allowed all three sites,

AGA, ELM and BIS, to act as one strong unit with aligned goals.

The hard work paid off and LLC had an extraordinary business year exceeding our financial obligations to the Group. In 2012, we conducted our first Customer and Employee Satisfaction surveys which we will use to further improve our value proposition to our customers and to enhance the satisfaction of our most valuable asset, our Work Force.

Programs such as D.Proof have created a better per- ceived value for our customers and we have trained eleven Six Sigma Green Belt candidates to become

process experts utilizing Six Sigma methodologies. This step was necessary to improve LLC’s ability to create robust

business processes and to reduce costs throughout the entire Company. A second Six Sigma Green Belt wave started

in February 2013, giving eleven additional SÜD-DEKOR employees the opportunity to be-

come Six Sigma Green Belt candidates.

Overall, I am very proud of my North American team and also my highly competent associates across the pond that worked with and encouraged us. Over the past four decades, SÜDDEKOR has created innovative products for the decorative surface business around the world that we all can be proud of. Our Corporate expertise is “Design, Printing and Treating” and our extension in North America offers a unique advantage to our industry. Although we have many competi-tors here in North America, LLC is the only business that acts as a “fully integrated manufac-turer” that is able to provide “One-Stop-Shopping” to its customers.

Changes in the economic climates in North America and Europe have slowed down the pace of our business and those effects cannot be ignored. Mergers and acquisitions recognized in Europe and in North America continue to change our playing fields and create new challenges. However, they also create new business opportunities that need to be addressed.

I would like to use this opportunity to thank all of my 136 employees at LLC for the successes we have achieved in 2012, and I am convinced that our hard-working staff will deliver strong results in 2013 and continue to be a reliable business partner for the SÜDDEKOR Group. Together, we are making things happen!

Sincerely,Joe Hoelzer

Laboratory remodelling: New digital options for customers

SÜDDEKOR Plant I – Those frequenting the laboratory area in Plant 1 over the past few months have undoubtedly noticed: Something’s happening! Initially, laboratory ma-chine no. 6 was dismantled between Christmas and the New Year, as it was obsolete in terms of technology and was only capable of printing in three colours. Subsequently, a not in-considerable remodelling project was started: the customer area of the laboratory facilities in Plant 1 is currently under-going renovation and associated upgrading and enlargement of its premises. New lighting is being installed which offers

the possibility of patterning in a light-reliable manner even in poor external light conditions. Furthermore, a state-of-the-art ventilation system for improved room climate control and a new fire-protection system are being installed. Expanding the facilities has a very specific objective: We are creating state-of-the-art digital patterning systems for our customers that enable us to pattern a large number of col-ourways within a short period of time. In total, we will be installing four such systems spread out over three different rooms, allowing our customers’ designers to try out their

ideas, test colour impressions for décors and give their creativity free rein. At the same time, our in-house digital print team will also have its new home here. This will of course not replace classical laboratory work using machines, but simply make it much more efficient as décors can be patterned in accordance with existing digital master artwork. With the laboratory remodelling project, SÜDDEKOR is also once again expanding its focus on service and is intro-ducing new digital methods and practices. The laboratory is scheduled to be completed in March 2013.

Left:The new customer area in the laboratory facilities.

Middle:New work station for digital patterning.

Right:Planned, approved. realised.

“Change is the law of life and those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.”John F. Kennedy

Explaining products: D.Release®

Laboratory embossing at SüDDEkoR ArtSÜDDEKOR Art – In early 2013, a laboratory em- bossing system for manufacturing “Structal” release papers was installed at SÜDDEKOR Art in collaboration with Plant II, a development with which SÜDDEKOR further expands its surface finishing competence. As this topic is becoming in-creasingly important, the new system represents a major investment in the company’s future. New structures are developed in line with customer requirements or for the SÜDDEKOR collection at our Art-work Studio and engraved onto laboratory embossing cylin-ders using a laser. In the new system, release papers are structured directly upstream using these cylinders.

For SÜDDEKOR, the new laboratory embossing system offers the following benefits: • SÜDDEKORisnowabletopresentitscustomerswiththe

finished product comprising décor and structure in labora-tory format.

• New ideas and trends are developed faster and less expensively.

• Transportationoflaboratorycylindersisdispensedwithasthe embossing trials can be carried out directly onsite at SD Art, meaning that only the paper patterns need to be sent to Plant II.

• Release papers can now be produced in laboratory format.

Furthermore, the system is also deployed for developing embossing rollers for the CV and LVT industry, with the ob-jective of being able to test surface structures at lower costs in this sector as well.

ADDIS – ADDIS GmbH, which is headquartered in Heroldstatt, was established in 2004 and has been a fully-fledged member of the 2D Holding ever since; prior to this, the company was an IT department that made up part of the SÜDDEKOR GmbH organisation. The team comprises a total of 11 employees, inclu-ding IT specialists and staff with a business administration back-ground. 5 of these have offices in Heroldstatt, located in the 2D Holding building, while 6 members of staff work at ADDIS SRL, a company subsidiary in Romania. The ADDIS team has been headed up by Dan Todoran since the very beginning. We would now like to introduce you to the IT team in greater detail.

The projects that the team jointly carries out range from total so-lutions for software, Web design, SAP consulting and implemen- tation all the way through to network planning and integration.

The Romanian subsidiary, with its 6 highly-qualified employees, develops software using the following programming languages: .NET, C#/C/C++/Visual Basic, Java, Perl, Cobol, ABAP (SAP) in accordance with the concepts and specifications of the German and American colleagues in all divisions of the 2D Group.

Since 2010, ADDIS has been supported by two members of staff from ‘AI Informatics’, who provide system administration support and services. Five distinctive jobs do not necessarily mean five different areas of responsibility. The work is assigned to staff according to priority, whereby all employees work in

close collaboration. Some of them had started their careers using fax machines and typewriters, including Thomas Käppeler, who started his apprenticeship at SÜDDEKOR GmbH in Laichin-gen in 1989. Following all the innovation in IT over the past years and decades, this is now virtually inconceivable.

Currently, we are working on launching SAP at DAKOR in collaboration with Lauterbach. The detailed concept has been drafted and is about to be accepted. Following the full imple-mentation, both SÜDDEKOR GmbH and a further member of the 2D Group will be able to work with the new SAP operating system, which offers huge benefits for inter-company activities and business. And the daily work of our colleagues at ADDIS also includes the procurement of hardware and software, support, training seminars, etc. Listing all projects and tasks here would

simply not be possible due to the company’s extensive remit. The listed examples comprise merely a fraction of the overall responsibilities of the staff at ADDIS. This team works exten-sively in the background, but is nonetheless responsible for ensuring that everything runs customarily smoothly at all members of the 2D Holding. As a result of the ever-growing complexity of the IT structure, specialists are required to create the foundations. It is not difficult to see that this dynamic team of young and experienced experts approaches all challenges with commensurate professionalism and ensures that every-thing functions perfectly at 2D.

SÜDDEKOR – Since the integration of WKP in 2008, SÜDDEKOR has not just been influ-encing the final surface design for finish films. With our release pa- pers – marketed under the name D.Release® – SÜDDEKOR also offers a product that provides

structure and gloss level for a wide range of applica-tions. The importance of flexible surface design pos-sibilities grows particularly in times in which products are increasingly being defined through unique selling propositions vis-à-vis competitors.

The current focus of the application is on the classical wood materials industry; in other words, in CPL and HPL manufacture, whereby new applications in new market segments are on the advance. To this end, the sales ratio of so-called rubber flooring, for instance, is currently 23 percent a rising trend.

Today, release papers are generally deployed wher-ever flexibility is required for production processes and the use of pressing panels does not achieve the required results or proves to be no longer financially viable. To this end, not only are the design aspects in demand, so too are a whole range of technical bene-fits that can only be achieved by using our release papers: such as a double-sided release paper, for in-stance, which is being successfully deployed within the HPL industry.

To this end, the D.Release® product family, which is manufactured on the EBH system and the embossing calenders in Plant II, Laichingen, is split into three groups: D.Release® Structal are papers embossed by means of the calender; D.Release® Silicure are smooth release papers, that include a lacquer layer and hence function as a gloss level provider and, finally, D.Release® Silicure Millennium – which is given a multi-layer lacquer structure with which the structures are transferred to the release papers with different gloss levels. Based on new market require-ments and our strong in-house innovativeness, we developed a new D.Release product group called D.Release® Foil quite some time ago, which opens up new applications in the area of HPL exterior façades or for short-cycle systems. Further applications are currently being looked into and examined.

For SÜDDEKOR, release papers are an additional, important business focus that also opens up opportu-nities in other markets than our – to date – traditional ones.

To better visualise everyday routine at ADDIS, we would like to present you with a review of a selection of major projects carried out over the past few years:

• IT set-up of the high-bay warehouse including a link to the existing ERP system in 2000. The link to the SAP was implemented later. The team was responsible for the complete implementation, training seminars for employees, etc.

• DevelopmentandprogrammingoftheERPsoftwareforSÜDDEKOR LLC in America and at DAKOR GmbH.

• Concept and programming of operating data entry systems, packaging machine and high-bay warehouse software with PLC links in collaboration with the produc-tion division.

• IntroductionoftheSAPECC6.0softwareatSÜDDEKOR. The ADDIS employees, supported by the process owners, accompanied the staff with advice and support. The staff programmed, trained, negotiated, source solutions and consulted at all times until they finally achieved the right results.

• Introductionof theDigilabprogrammeforcreatingandproviding samples at SÜDDEKOR. The conversion to the SAP programme will take place for this area in April of this year, coordinated by ADDIS with the support of the process owners involved.

• Development of an SAP-based management informa-tion system (BI/BO). In the case of the so-called BI/BO system, the data from SAP is updated, processed and graphically displayed every night.

DAKOR – Since 2005, the company’s in-house proposal system at DAKOR GmbH has been an open system in which all employees can become involved. To find out more, 2DayNews met up with the officer in charge of the system, Jan Firkusny. Talking to 2DayNews, he reported on frequently astonishingly obvious proposals, the benefits for employees and the company – and the great bonuses.

Mr. Firkusny, what is the company’s staff suggestion scheme (3S)? One of the objectives of the programme is the constant improve-ment of work and working processes – which in particular means exploiting the huge potential harboured by the experience and ideas of our employees and to deploy these for the benefit of the

company. The 3S forms the outer framework of this joint ven-ture. The installation and continuous promotion and develop-ment should, above all, be regarded as ideas management.

What is the primary objective of the 3S? The main aim of the staff suggestion scheme is to increase performance and competiveness and hence secure our jobs in the medium and long term. In practice, this means a saving of energy, materials and time, quality increases in our products and services, an increase in occupational safety and health protec-tion for our employees as well as protecting the environment. However, the optimisation of one’s own workplace and simplify-ing work processes and material flows play a role here.

You are the so-called 3S representative at DAKOR. What does this position involve? I am something akin to an ‘ideas organiser’: I receive the im-provement suggestions and forward them to a so-called appraiser within our company. I help the employee formulate his / her suggestion and represent the employee within the 3S commission. Of course, I also inform him / her on the progress of the appraisal or the testing of his/her idea. By the way: this testing is always carried out personally by the responsible ap-praiser or his / her deputy.

What other tasks does an appraiser have to perform? An appraiser is – in accordance with the purpose of the im-provement suggestion – the manager responsible for the re-spective area. In the case of DAKOR, this is normally somebody from the technical side of the business, such as the production manager, the technologies manager or the head of facilities technologies. The responsible appraiser submits a written state-ment for the acceptance or rejection of a suggestion. In the case of an acceptance, he/she will calculate the anticipated sav-ing and commission the already-mentioned testing and poten-tially the subsequent implementation of the suggestion.

You just mentioned the 3S commission. What exactly is that?This is a committee made up of various representatives of the company. Concretely, these include the above-mentioned appraisers, the management and the Works Council. The com-mission ultimately decides whether the appraised improvement suggestion is recognised as an improvement.

Who is allowed to submit an improvement? Any employee can become involved in the suggestion system. Several persons can also submit an improvement suggestion together as a group.

What must an employee idea look like to actually be accepted as an improvement suggestion? At least one concrete solution for a company’s in-house problem must be submitted. The idea should result in work being simplified for employees, in savings or in additional revenue. It is also important that the idea is not part of the employee’s or group’s job description. Improvement sugges-tions that are part of the employee’s job description can of course be submitted, but they will not be rewarded with a bonus.

Do you have a practical example for us? Sometimes the suggestions are so obvious that you ask yourself why nobody had come up with the idea sooner. For example, we now fold – the direct result of a suggestion – our letters twice and send them in small envelopes instead of folding them once, like we did in the past, and sending them in mailing pouches. This saves the company around 2,000 euros in post-age a year.

How is an implemented suggestion rewarded? The bonus amounts to 50 percent of the savings made in the first year following implementation of the improvement sugges-tion. So, the employee received a bonus of 1,000 euros for the mentioned example. However, the maximum achievable bonus is limited to 10,000 euros. In practice, the improvement sugges-tion is first implemented, then – following a certain period of time – the actual saving determined and then extrapolated for a whole year.

What was the highest bonus ever paid for an improve-ment suggestion by DAKOR? We actually once paid out the top bonus of 10,000 euros, which was shared by two employees. They designed a trolley that catches the already impregnated sheets to be measured and hence permits the measuring of the material without any interruptions to the production process. This new system enables the company to save tens of thousands of euros each year in waste impregnate.

At the beginning of the interview, you mentioned health and occupational safety ideas. Surely these would not generate any monetary savings?You are absolutely right. However, we also have a solution to this issue. Depending on the scope and impact of the suggestion, the commission decides on a recognition bonus, which can also amount to hundreds of euros.

“Primarily”, states Jan Firkusny, “ideas management survives on the many smaller, often simple, suggestions submitted by em-ployees, which ultimately harbour continuity in the improve-ment process for operating procedures. A recent specialist arti-cle stated that each employee within a German company could save an average of 665 euros every year. For us, this would mean that every employee has the potential to receive a bonus of around 330 euros each and every year”.

2DAy News interviewing Jan Firkusny

Positive feedback on Surfaces 2013SÜDDEKOR LLC – SÜDDEKOR LLC successfully completed a busy Surfaces 2013 trade fair in Las Vegas where it occupied four suites on the 39th floor of the Four Seasons Hotel. Each suite was dedicated to a specific purpose; design presentations, business meetings, SÜDDEKOR Art, or hospitality. Throughout the two days, LLC conducted 14 design presen-tations and 8 business meetings. For the design presentations, the LLC Design Team created a digital presentation, on two 70-inch LED screens, that opened with a SÜDDEKOR-created inspirational video. This format enabled the team to highlight 2 or 3 layouts in multiple colorations for each design. Full-size slabs of beautiful, finished woods were arranged through-out the room while soothing music and the scent of fresh timber added to the ambiance.

All customers responded with positive comments on this innovative style of presentation. During the evenings, SÜDDEKOR LLC provided a relaxing experience for customers and sup-pliers with piano music, a roving magician, and light fare. The soft music allowed easy conver-sation until midnight. To our delight, the Four Seasons updated all suites in 2012 so they looked and felt new and modern. In keeping with the theme that every design tells a story, LLC gave moleskin journals, embossed with the SÜDDEKOR logo, to customers who attended a presentation or business meeting. The wrapping of the journal contained a QR code that, when activated, will bring the customer directly to the LLC website and the surfaces designs.At this time, SÜDDEKOR LLC is planning to hold a similar event at Surfaces 2014.

ADDIS: (virtually) nothing works without it

eDitorial information: Responsible according to the German Press Law: Dr. Christian Rolfs, Tobias Lorenz. SÜDDEKOR GmbH, Gottlieb-Daimler-Str. 6, D-89150 Laichingen, Germany

SüDDEkoR trends 2013 / 2014

SÜDDEKOR – Each year, SÜDDEKOR publishes a trend statement on the occasion of the industry’s lead trade fair – and this is also the case for the 2013 interzum in Cologne, Germany. The company will be presenting the two topics of ‘E.MOTION’ & ‘E.NOVATION’, portrayed as a film on large LCD screens. Customers visiting us at the interzum will also receive our trend statements on a stylish concrete USB stick. Here is a small visual impression of the two trend topics and décor themes:

SÜDDEKOR – The Careers Day – held at Erich Kästner School in Laichingen on February 23, 2013 and at which our SÜDDEKOR apprentices were invited to present the vocations of media tech-nology specialist in printing and industrial clerk – was deemed a complete and unmitigated success. Numerous school pupils and parents attended with the aim of informing themselves about companies, institutions and further education colleges and schools.

In all, approximately 80 exhibitors attended the Careers Day in Laichingen. Half of those attending the event were parents of pupils from Erich Kästner School and Anne Frank School in Lai-chingen. The other half were made up of companies, institutions and further education colleges and schools. All interested school pupils from the Laichingen region were invited to the event. Fur-thermore, the function was announced in the newspapers and

all official gazettes of the surrounding communities. The exhibi-tion at the school was very well attended, which meant that our apprentices were all extremely busy – although they managed admirably to see the day through. Kitted out with flyers, brochures, product samples and much more, our apprentices Michael Braungart, Jana Söll, Sinan Halvaci, Ozan Oguz, Aldin Bolic (on the picture from left to right) turned up at 8 a.m. on Saturday morning to set up the stand at Erich Kästner School. From 9 a.m. onwards, visitors to the event were able to embark on their expedition through the school, with the Careers Day officially ending at midday.

We were particularly thrilled by the commitment and hard work put in by our apprentices, who had lots of fun preparing for their attendance at the Careers Day, subsequently presenting their respective vocations and then reporting on their areas of activity.

SüDDEkoR at the Careers Day function in Laichingen

E.Motion We express emotions and individuality in our living environments: with rock chic, natural home accessories, creative ideas and upcycling. The trend décors in wood, concrete and other materials have natural structures, a sandblasted appearance or are expressive thanks to their used-look.

E.novation We live in a technology-dominated environment where it’s sometimes hard to distinguish between the natural and the artificial. Based on apparent tradition, décors that seem to be familiar come into existence. It’s only at the second glance that they impress with surprising effects and refinement.

E.motIoN & E.NovAtIoN