NEWS
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January 18, 2006
Unilever Supply Chain Company
Opens in Switzerland
New York, January 24 Ð UK/Netherlands-based global consumer-products giant Unilever has expanded its already substantial presence in Switzerland through its Unilever Supply Chain Company (USCC), reports Mario Brossi of the Swiss foreign investment agency Location: Switzerland. USCC is located in the canton of Schaffhausen and is staffed with approximately 160 employees, Mr. Brossi said.
According
to Jeroen Katgert, the companyÕs CFO, in an interview with the investment
promotion agency: ÒUSCC is part of the ÔOne UnileverÕ program to strengthen our
overall competitiveness and growth. It is responsible for the European supply
chain of Unilever and will buy raw and packaging material and co-ordinate the
planning of production, the transport and warehousing of finished products from
the European manufacturing sites to the end-user markets.Ó
Mr. Katgert
noted that ÒUnilever and Switzerland have an ongoing relationship that made
selecting the country attractive for USCC. It offers a number of advantages for the companyÕs supply
chain management operations including a favorable tax regime, excellent
connections throughout Europe, a multilingual workforce and a superb business
infrastructure.
ÒSwitzerland
is within easy reach of the key Unilever innovation centers in Europe,Ó Mr.
Katgert continued. ÒWe have our regional oil buying operations already in
Switzerland and Schaffhausen is the home of our 1200-employee operating company
Unilever Schweiz GmbH. Overall,Ó he added, Òour experiences in Switzerland and
with the Schaffhausen investment promotion agency have been most gratifying.Ó
Mr. Brossi
said that supply chain management is increasingly recognized as a strategy by
which companies in virtually all businesses can more effectively manage their
inventory and substantially reduce costs. ÒThe approach is to centralize higher value-add functions,
major risks and intangible assets in a separate legal entity located in a
favorable tax jurisdiction.Ó He commented that a recent report by Capgemini
cited Switzerland as being such a prominent jurisdiction.
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Contacts:
Unilever
Switzerland: Anne Zwyssig +41 52 645 6131 anne.zwyssig@unilever.com
Location:
Switzerland: John Williamson +908 730-9622 johnhwilliamson@earthlinnk.net