Adolf Palm founded Papierfabrik Palm in Aalen-Neukochen 150 years ago. With diligence and tenacity, he turned a small paper mill into a flourishing business that focused on recycled raw materials and packaging papers from the very beginning. His sons, grandsons and great-grandson Dr Wolfgang Palm successfully continued his work throughout all the challenges over the course of time. Today, the Palm Group is not only an established industry player, but also one of the few remaining family-owned paper producers. As with tradition, Marina Palm, the 5th generation has sincee taken over responsibility for the company.
On 1st May 1872, I moved to Neukochen and started my occupation.” This simple but significant sentence can be read in the memoirs that Adolf Palm put down on paper half a century later. As a businessman, he had previously gained experience in mechanical engineering – especially with customers from the paper and wood pulp industries. He bought the rather run-down and dilapidated paper mill on the Bohl near Aalen because he wanted to be his own boss and considered himself experienced and energetic enough to run an industrial enterprise.
It soon became clear how correct his self-assessment was. The old paper machine was immediately upgraded and improved. Just one year after taking over the business, Adolf Palm was able to present a successful product with the “excellent and tough natural brown raffia paper” he had developed. And thus set two important courses that still have an impact today: the concentration on packaging paper – and the use of secondary raw materials that were produced elsewhere as waste.
The expansion of the production of corrugated board packaging was driven by Dr Wolfgang Palm, primarily through wise investments in modern technology and the development of long-term customer relationships. One of the greatest feats in 2014 was the acquisition of the Seyfert Group. Nine companies in need of modernisation with 1,100 employees were added in one fell swoop. The 8 corrugated board plants in Germany and France as well as a paper mill in Descartes, France, significantly strengthened the Palm Group after successful integration. Other corrugated board plants were added. Palm thus developed into the number 2 in Germany for corrugated board packaging. Today, 28 companies with a wide range of packaging solutions belong to the Palm Group. Palm has also made huge investments in environmental protection and climate action in the recent past. Gas turbine power plants have ensured efficient and CO2-saving energy and heat production at the Eltmann and Wörth plants since 2008. Other gas turbine power plants with an efficiency of over 90% were built in Descartes, France, in 2017 and in King’s Lynn, UK, in 2018. In the anniversary year 2022, a completely new generation of world-first gas turbines will be installed in Eltmann and Wörth, which can also be run with hydrogen later. Making Palm a pioneer in sustainability and energy efficiency once again. Of course, this also applies to Palm’s most recent project and the one with the highest level of investment: the building of a completely new paper mill, which is unmissable to all Aalen residents, started on the traditional location in 2019. The three already outdated paper machines, all buildings as well as the power plant and the treatment plant had to make way for the project. The company premises were transformed into a large construction site for about two years. Up to 1,500 people were at work at the same time. The result of the largest single investment in the
The founder’s influence still shapes the business in other respects today: he invested incessantly in modern technologies. In 1876 he had a powerful iron water wheel installed, in 1881 a steam engine and in 1896 electric lighting. And he always managed to implement new processes and product improvements, even though he was not an engineer himself.
The 2nd generation takes the helm in difficult times
In 1910, Adolf Palm retired and his sons Otto and Hermann Palm then ran the business. The year before, the company had produced more than 1,000 tonnes of paper for the first time. However, the First World War not only affected business, but the aged founder also took on responsibility once again, because his sons were conscripted into the army. Despite all the difficulties, a turbine replaced the old water wheel in 1917 and a modern steam boiler building was built, whose 50-metre-high chimney dominated the landscape at the confluence of the Weißer and Schwarzer Kocher rivers.
His sons Otto and Hermann returned unharmed from the war in 1918 and continued the modernisation programme with courage and determination. In 1921 they bought a second paper machine from Voith in Heidenheim, which was monstrous by the standards of the time, with a working width of 2.5 metres. PM 2 was mainly used for the production of a particularly stable and visually attractive packaging paper, “Jasper paper”, which Hermann Palm developed. The founder Adolf Palm died in 1925. He did not live to see how special insulating papers became popular with an everincreasing number of buyers.
Like many other companies, “Papierfabrik Gebrüder Palm” got into trouble during the world economic crisis from 1929 onwards. They did their best to survive with niche products such as flypaper and cinema tickets. The brothers even pledged their life insurance policies to keep the company afloat. After 1933, they were able to generate modest growth with the cold and heat insulating papers “Perkalor” and produced more than 10,000 tonnes of paper for the first time in 1937. After 1939, so-called blackout cardboard also ensured a reasonably sustainable utilisation of the paper machine. Because the company was classified as essential to the war effort, foreign workers were used to replace conscripted employees, who were housed in specially built accommodation and treated decently under the circumstances. Some even visited the paper factory in Neukochen after the war.
Palm consolidates its success with innovations and other business segments
The Second World War had a major influence on the further development of the family business in terms of personnel: Sigurd Palm, Otto Palm’s son who was trained and designated to be his successor, was killed on the Eastern Front in 1941. After the end of the war, his brother Dr Wilfried Palm and his cousin Gottfried Palm joined the company as the 3rd generation. Like their fathers, the two divided the commercial and technical responsibilities between them according to their training. As the “economic miracle” progressed, they concentrated the product portfolio on two core areas again: insulating papers and packaging papers.
With a good eye for the market, entrepreneurial courage and sound expertise, they launched an unprecedented investment and modernisation offensive from the mid-1950s onwards. New paper machines were purchased at six-year intervals in 1956, 1962, 1968 and 1974, each larger and more efficient than the previous one. With its four state-of-the-art paper machines, the paper mill in Neukochen achieved a production of 150,000 tonnes. Product innovations and technical world firsts in the production process ensured they were able to meet steadily increasing demand. However, another decisive factor for the company’s continuous growth was to maintain a trusting, reliable and sincere relationship with customers and business partners.
After Gottfried Palm succumbed to cancer in 1972 at the age of just 49, the management responsibility was concentrated solely on Dr Wilfried Palm. With the construction of two biological filteration with integrated secondary sedimentation tanks, he sent a clear signal for more environmental awareness and sustainability. Furthermore, he opened up another business segment for the company in 1979: with the purchase of a corrugated board plant in Bruchsal, Palm entered vertical integration and went from being a corrugated paper supplier to a packaging producer itself. This step, which had not been planned, had become necessary because more and more corrugated board manufacturers were setting up their own paper mills or expanding existing ones. This threatened to take away important customers in the long term.
Another step taken by Dr Wilfried Palm in 1983 was equally courageous and ultimately successful: Palm started producing newsprint paper made from 100 percent recycled paper on a second-hand paper machine, making it the first company in Germany to do this. A project that was associated with some technical difficulties and that required the perseverance the company founder had previously shown. However, a conceivable compromise solution, namely to use primary raw materials to some extent, was ruled out by Dr Wilfried Palm. Even today, his son Dr Wolfgang Palm remembers: “That was completely out of the question, you couldn’t even discuss it with him.” The son, who was the 4th generation to join the company in 1982, was also the one who repeatedly upheld his father’s persistence. With success: In November 1984, the “Schwäbische Post” in Aalen printed a special edition on the environmentally friendly Palm newsprint for the first time.
Admittedly, environmental issues, of all things, initially caused considerable problems – but eventually led to a solution that became the benchmark. The wastewater treatment plant, which had already been extensively expanded, had problems purifying the wastewater from the completely newly developed production process in accordance with the stricter regulations. Therefore, a completely new treatment technology was researched together with the University of Stuttgart. This new pioneering process was implemented immediately with investments of more than 10 million Deutschmarks. As a result, the very strict effluent values from 1988 onwards could not only be met, but also permanently exceeded. Palm had developed, into a pioneer in environmental protection and sustainability.
A sense of proportion and expertise: Dr Wolfgang Palm expands the family business run by the 4th generation into the broad-based Palm Group
In his four decades at the helm of the company, Dr Wolfgang Palm has consistently and proactively developed all three of the company’s business segments: corrugated paper production, newsprint paper and corrugated board packaging. To begin with, several corrugated board plants joined Palm, with the purchase of three plants from the Quelle Group in 1986 being a very large and decisive step for the future.
The next major goal was to expand the production of newsprint paper to 100% recycled paper. In 1994, the first paper machine started up in a newly built factory on a greenfield site in Eltmann, Franconia. Just five years later, the mill was expanded to its current form with the addition of another paper machine. The high-performance PM 3 paper machine was the first paper machine in the world to set a new speed record in 2008, breaking the 2,000 m/min (120 km/h) barrier.
The second greenfield paper mill was built in Wörth am Rhein. Tgere Palm built what was then the largest and most efficient paper machine in the world, on a large site with good links to the motorway, railway and waterways. With a capacity of 750,000 tonnes per year, the production line, which was built over 10 metres wide for the first time, is still one of the most efficient corrugated paper machines around. In addition to the corrugated base paper machine, one of the largest and most effcient corrugated board plants in Germany was built in 2008, whre the paper is proceed into packaging directly on site without intermediate transport.
In 2009, Palm ventured across the English Channel and built what is still the world’s largest newsprint paper machine in King’s Lynn, UK. With a working width of more than 10 metres, PM 7 has an annual capacity of 400,000 tonnes.
The expansion of the production of corrugated board packaging was driven by Dr Wolfgang Palm, primarily through wise investments in modern technology and the development of long-term customer relationships. One of the greatest feats in 2014 was the acquisition of the Seyfert Group. Nine companies in need of modernisation with 1,100 employees were added in one fell swoop. The 8 corrugated board plants in Germany and France as well as a paper mill in Descartes, France, significantly strengthened the Palm Group following successful integration. More corrugated board plants were also added to the Group, Palm became the second largest company in Germany for corrugated board packaging. Today, 28 companies with a wide range of packaging solutions belong to the Palm Group.
Palm has also recently made huge investments in environmental protection and climate action. Since 2008, gas turbine power plants have ensured efficient and CO2-saving energy and heat production at the Eltmann and Wörth mills. Other gas turbine power plants with an efficiency of over 90% were built in Descartes, France, in 2017 and in King’s Lynn, UK, in 2018. In the anniversary year 2022, a completely new generation of world-first gas turbines will be installed in Eltmann and Wörth, which can later also be run with hydrogen. Palm is once again a prioneer in sustainability and energy efficiency.
Of course, this also applies to Palm’s most recent project with the highest level of investment: the building of a completely new paper mill, started on the traditional location in 2019. The three already outdated paper machines, all buildings as well as the power plant and the water treatment plant had to make way for the project. The company premises were transformed into a large construction site for about two years. Up to 1,500 people were at work at the same time. The result of the largest single investment in the company’s 150-year history is a paper mill for the future. 750,000 tonnes of corrugated paper can be produced by PM 5, which is equipped with numerous technological world firsts and has a working width of 10.9 metres. And thanks to a new, high-performance sewage treatment plant and the most modern state-of-the-art energy concepts, it is particularly environmentally friendly and resource-saving. With the production of ultra-lightweight corrugated papers, Palm is a trendsetter in the development of products that lead to significant CO2 savings throughout the supply chain.
PM 5 successfully went into operation in July 2021, with many benefits for local residents as well: The paper mill is significantly quieter, loading and unloading takes place in noise-protected areas and traffic is routed directly onto the B19. The plant was completed by a new track system, which went into operation in December 2021. The state-of-the-art power plant with innovative gas turbine, which is the world’s number 1 of a completely new generation from Siemens and can also be run with hydrogen in the future, has been in continuous operation since April 2022.
Anniversary all about shaping the future
Strong foundations are in place for the company’s anniversary this year, which also has a new addition in store in terms of personnel: since 1st March 2022, Marina Palm, daughter of Dr Wolfgang Palm, represents the 5th generation as Managing Director of the family business. Whether her great-great-grandfather would have dreamed in 1872 that his company would still be family-owned after 150 years? Perhaps. That it would one day be run by a young woman: probably not. Marina Palm is further proof that Palm, for all its tradition and preservation of the tried and tested in its long history, has at the same time always had the courage and confidence to actively shape the future. And thus becoming what it is today: an established name in the industry as an independent family-run business. Palm now produces more than 1.7 million tonnes of corrugated paper and almost 1 million tonnes of newsprint from 100% recycled paper annually at 5 paper mills in Germany, France and England. Corrugated board packaging with a volume of more than 800,000 tonnes is produced at 28 corrugated board plants. More than 4,000 employees in the 33 companies generate a turnover that will be 2.5 billion euros in the anniversary year 2022.
At least as important as these figures are the fundamental values and principles that Palm has always stood for and will continue to stand for in the future: thinking and acting based on the that is built on the long term; an ongoing high level of investmeht for further development; continued product evolution and innovation; flexibility and reliability even in difficult times; business relationships with customers and suppliers that are based on trust as well as openness and fairness; managing directors who run their company with their heart and soul, typical of the family passion, but also personal responsibility; a substantial contribution to sustainability and climate action through the use of recycled raw materials and the use of energy-efficient technologies in production. And last but not least, collaboration based on respect and appreciation with the works councils and employees, some of whom have been working at Palm for generations. The new Managing Director Marina Palm is sure it is these values that have made the family business great over the past 150 years. Interpreted in a modern way with the necessary openness to new ideas, they will also carry the company into a successful future.