Customer satisfaction

The business model for the glass industry promotes high utilisation of production capacity in order to maintain competitiveness. For Vetropack, therefore, customer satisfaction means reliably offering customers the products they want at the right time. We make sure that our customers are satisfied by putting their ideas into practice with know-how, creativity, and flexibility. We develop customer-specific and individual glass packaging products based on our customers’ ideas. We use innovative technologies such as 3D printers so they can literally get to know the glass packaging 'hands-on' prior to series production. Long-term partnerships as well as the Net Promoter Score (NPS) are indicators of our customers’ satisfaction levels. We regularly analyse our markets to identify trends so we can respond strategically to them.

Regular customer surveys (Voice of the Customer surveys)

As part of Vetropack’s Strategy 2030, we have set ourselves two goals: not only to double sales as compared to the 2019 level, but also to improve our ratings in customer surveys. To systematically determine our customers’ expectations of our products and services, we regularly conduct customer surveys (Voice of the Customer surveys) across the Group. These surveys cover the following topics: willingness to recommend Vetropack to others (based on a Net Promoter Score (NPS) rating), performance versus direct market competition, opportunities for service development and share of wallet as an indication of future spend patterns. The results give us insights into our customers’ needs and requirements in relation to both existing and future business areas, and they help us to quantify customers’ satisfaction levels.

Systematic customer care

Customer experience is one of the key drivers of our commercial excellence initiative. By focusing on a better understanding of our customers’ requirements and needs, we systematically strengthen our customer relationships. Our Strategic Account Management (SAM) is one example of Customer experience. The SAM analyses data, assigns clear responsibilities for customer care, and improves our services for strategically relevant key customers. Going forward, a Group-wide Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system will aim to simplify and optimise customer care in the phase between the customer’s enquiry and the placement of an order.

Interaction with our customers

At Vetropack, the Sales team has primary responsibility for implementing a customer-oriented sales strategy. The information required for this purpose originates from market research and strategic analyses. Customers’ concerns and requirements are determined through direct discussions and on the basis of customer surveys. Daily interactions with our customers help us to identify immediate concerns and respond to them. Decentralised responsibilities enable us to address customers’ issues at the local level, and to implement efficient and effective solutions for them.

Main responsibilities for ensuring customer satisfaction

Online presence

Our customers can consult the online catalogue on the Vetropack website to find all our glass packaging products for a variety of beverages (including wines, spirits and beers) and foods. Users can view and then select products based on a wide range of criteria including capacities, shapes, colours, mouths and closure types.

We also make use of our online presence to publish Success Stories referencing satisfied customers. We routinely post these on our LinkedIn channel or our corporate website. As well as motivating our employees to deliver best performance, the Success Stories inspire our existing customers and help us to acquire new customers.

Joint product development with customers

Comprehensive improvement of the product mix is one of our strategic focus areas. By developing products jointly with our customers, we succeed in implementing their specific requirements. This co-operation also promotes knowledge transfer. We regularly collaborate with our customers to assess the performance of the products we have sold, and we work with them to develop solutions for returning low-margin products to profitability. In these ways, we optimise the added value created both for our customers and for Vetropack.

3D printing laboratory turns virtual glass containers into physical reality

We offer 3D printing services that enable customers and others to experience the look and feel of new glass containers. We have set up a 3D printing laboratory for glass packaging, in Austria, so our customers can gain ‘hands-on’ knowledge of the glass product they want before series production begins. The prototypes, which are produced from a special resin, precisely reproduce the container’s geometry: this gives customers the opportunity to evaluate the prototype with their stakeholder groups at an early stage of the process, thus supporting a shorter time to market.

Transparency about our products’ environmental footprint

Customers increasingly request information about our products’ ecological footprint, so we transparently communicate key product-related environmental indicators. In addition, we can provide detailed data on environmental impact in compliance with the requirements defined by the European Container Glass Federation (FEVE). For this purpose, we use a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) tool that was developed jointly with FEVE to carry out ‘Product Life Assessments’. This tool gives us an overview of the product’s entire life cycle so we can make the relevant information transparently available to the customer.

Guidelines, policies, supervisory and control instruments

• Market research on glass packaging usage in selected geographical regions
• Strategic Account Management (SAM) programme as part of customer segmentation
• Implementation of a Group-wide Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system.
• Customer-oriented sales and marketing strategy
• Regular customer surveys (Voice of the Customer)
• Daily interactions with customers
• LCA tool to determine the environmental impact of our products
• Pricing guideline as a control mechanism
• Implementation of pricing maturity audits

Progress and events in the reporting year

Performance indicators

GRI 417-2 Incidents of non-compliance concerning product and service information and labeling

No significant incidents of non-compliance concerning the labelling of product information were notified during the reporting period.