Greif Inc.
Introduction
Founded in 1877, approximately 145 years ago, and headquartered in Delaware, Ohio, United States, Greif Inc., is a North American manufacturing and packaging company. The company’s initial operations focus on barrels manufacturing, however, over the years, the operation scope of the company has now dived into the production of industrial packaging and containers. In the year 2018, Greif Inc. is proud to be ranked in the 642nd position on the Fortune 1000 list, indicating the company’s relevance of its revenue generation from discounted operations, core operations, as well as consolidated divisions and subsidiaries. Greif Inc., in its entirety, offers a wide range of commercial and operational services which include but are not limited to: Collection Services, Reconditioning Services, Recycling Services, Land Management by Soterra, Filling, Packaging, and Logistic by Delta, as well as Life Cycle Assessment Tools. And the markets it serves include Flavors & Fragrances, Food & Beverages, Waste & Nuclear, Specialty Chemicals, Distributors, Agriculture, Mining & Construction, Lubricant & Petroleum, Industrial Goods, Paints, Coatings & Ink, Health & Beauty, Commodity Chemicals, as well as Retailing Packaging. In this article, however, you will be shown a more detailed, comprehensive, and extensive review of Greif Inc. The kickoff will begin with the company’s key facts and flows to all aspect of its operations, and dealings. As such, all relevant information detailing its key facts, its historical background, its product niches, and service offerings, its financial overview, as well as its pros and cons will be concisely covered to enable you to understand the significant and major elements of the fastening-oriented company as quickly as possible.
Key Facts
Founding Year: Greif Inc., was founded in the year 1877, approximately 145 years ago.
Industrial Ranking: Greif Inc., is proud to be ranked and enlisted on the Fortune 500 and 1000 list, ranking the 561st and 642nd positions respectively, indicating the company as one of the largest companies with higher revenue in the United States.
Company Type: A Public Corporation (PLC)
Diversification & Market Reach: Greif Inc., has office locations in more than 37 different countries. Additionally, the company operates in several markets, amounting to more than 13 different markets across all economic sectors.
Industry Type: Manufacturing & Packaging
Trading Type: Greif Inc., is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) market under two separate ticker names and classes, GEF(Class A) & GEF.B (Class B), with the Class A being a component of S&P 400, and the Class B being a component of Russell 2000.
Workforce Strength: Greif Inc., has a total number of 12, 000 employees in its workforce globally.
Historical Snapshot
Since its inception in 1877 over a century ago, Greif Inc. had gone through a series of transitions many of which had affected, changed, and expanded the scope of its operations. In this section, however, you will be shown a detailed history of how the company had evolved since its year of establishment up to this current dispensation.
In the year 1877, two visionary individuals opens, William Greif & Albert Vanderwyst opened a cooperage outlet under the name, Vanderwyst & Greif in the city of Cleveland, Ohio, United States.
In the year 1908, Greif Bros. Company, the then brand of Greif Inc., emerges as the largest cooperage plant in the entire universe.
In the year 1923, the company produced the first bitumen steel drum, and as a result, the product is still part of the company’s portfolio up to this date.
In 1951, the company moved its headquarters from Cleveland to Delaware, Ohio under the leadership of John C. Dempsey.
In the year 1955, Greif Inc., evolved and transits from key and barrel heading, cooperage facilities, and stave mills to fiber drums and corrugated container manufacturing.
In the year 1964, Greif Inc., bought technology from a tech manufacturing company operating under the name, Haveg Industries. The technology purchased was for blow-molding liners which insert fibre drums and steel, creating a whole new line.
In the year 1978, Greif Inc., bought Massillon, Ohio paper mill, and as a result, the acquisition dives the company into the container-board manufacturing business officially.
In the year 1998, Greif Inc., launched and published “The Greif Way”, a statement enumerating the company’s vision, which is “to be the best performing customer service company in the world in industrial packaging.”
In the year 2001, Greif Inc., bought Van ILeer Industrial, the acquisition gave Greif Inc., an international and global footprint, and by extension, doubling the size of the company. And in this same year, the company was officially changed to, Greif Inc.
In the year 2010, Greif Inc. bought four different Flexible Intermediate Bulk Containers (FIBC) firms, the acquisition includes the Storsack Group which happens to be the largest company in the FIBCs industry.
In the year 2018, EcoVadis awarded Greif Inc., with a Gold recognition as a result of the company’s commitment and support to sustainable development and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for the very first time.
In the year 2019, Greif Inc., bought a leading recycled packaging and paperboard solution company in North America, operating under the name, Caraustar Industries, Inc. The acquisition marks the company’s largest deal in its history. And as a result, the company’s operational scope becomes wider and wider, reaching every focused market with robust and efficacious operations.
Market Niches
As aforementioned in the introductory part of this piece, Greif, Inc., operates in a wide range of market niches. This section will, however, outline each niche covered by the company’s operations.
Niches include:
Flavors & Fragrances
Food & Beverages
Waste & Nuclear
Specialty Chemicals
Distributors
Agriculture
Mining & Construction
Lubricant & Petroleum
Industrial Goods
Paints, Coatings & Ink
Health & Beauty
Commodity Chemicals
Products and Service Offerings
Greif Inc.’s scope of operations centers on providing product offerings that strategically focus on manufacturing and distribution of industrial packaging solutions, and service offerings that deal with a a wide range of industrial packaging services. In the section, a quick overview of these two segments (Products and Service Offerings) will be outlined below.
Greif Inc., Products
In its entirety, Greif Inc., products include but not limited to the following:
Adhesive
Coated Recycled Paperboard
Construction Products
Containerboard
Corrugated Bulk Boxes
Corrugated Litho Lamination
Edge & Angle Board Protectors
Corrupted Sheets
Fibre Drums
Intermediate Bulk Containers
Jerrycans
Packaging Closures
Paper Coatings
Plastic Drums
Recycling
Steel Drums
Tubes & Cores
URB & Specialty Converting
Water Bottles
Service Offerings
Greif Inc., service offerings include:
Collection Services
Reconditioning Services
Recycling Services
Land Management by Soteria
Filling, Packaging, and Logistic by Delta,
Life Cycle Assessment Tools
Financial Overview
Revenue: 5.5 Billion USD
Operating Income: 527.1 Million USD
Total Assets: 5.426 Billion USD
Total Equity: I.133 Billion USD
Net Income: 390.7 Million USD
Pros and Cons
According to research-based facts on Glassdoor, this section will give a detailed review of the company’s pros and cons as expressed by its employees:
Pros
Production of Quality and Top-notch Industrial Products: Since its inception, Grief, Inc., is proud of its production and distribution of top-notch, quality, and durable packaging products for industrial companies.
Sufficient and Adequate Industrial Experience: With its existence since 1877, and approximately 145 years of accumulated industry experience, Greif Inc., no doubt has sufficient experience to avail its customers of the best industrial packaging products and services.
Dedicated and Committed to Sustainable Development: Greif Inc., is committed to giving its best in terms of delivering its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as it fosters and supports both social and environmental-oriented programs.
Competitive Remuneration for Staff: Although, this merit is somewhat controversial, however, majority of employees at Grief, Inc. revealed that the company offers competitive salaries and other perks.
Uninterrupted Supply Chain: One of the most valuable benefits the Grief, Inc., clients enjoy is its swift and uninterrupted chain of supply tailored to service all customer’s demands and requests while utilizing its efficient channel of distribution–transportation and logistics. This benefit, is, however, evident in the company’s vision statement.
Job Security: Due to the company’s structure and policy, there is job security for its employees.
Positive Organizational Culture: The overall organizational culture of Greif Inc. is positive as it embraces cultural diversity and inclusion.
Cons
Less opportunity for Career Advancement: Some employees complain of the company’s slow pace for career advancement
Strict Attendance Policy: Some employees also reveal the company’s strict policy for attendance
No Work/Life Balance: Due to the excessive working hour of the company, some employees complain of not having a work/life balance.
Conclusion
In its entirety, Greif, Inc., is an amusing and intriguing case to study as a result of its long-shot years in the industry, its innovative milestones as well as its commitment to customer service. As seen in the above-detailed history that the company leverages its industrial insights and expertise to attain such a great feat and it’s still dedicated to doing the same in years to come. Finally, I hope your expectation highlighted in the introductory portion of this paper have been addressed. However, on the off chance that you are yet to completely absorb all that is drafted in this piece at once, I recommend that you review it over and over again until you are in sync with the entire information.
