How TEM Catez Achieved 19% Packaging Savings with ERA Group

Market Pressures and the Imperative for Efficiency

TEM Catez d.o.o. has spent decades shaping the future of switches and sockets, and with exports representing approximately 66% of its sales, the company has grown into an increasingly significant European player. That growth, however, brought new challenges: volatile construction cycles, sustained pricing pressures, and a constant need for innovation.

Leadership recognised that sustaining competitiveness would necessitate a meticulous examination of the company's cost structures – without any compromise on quality. The challenge lay in identifying the optimal starting point and implementing such changes without disrupting a business reliant on precision and reliability at every stage of production and delivery.

Competitive pressures force us to develop new products while simultaneously optimising existing ones. We chose ERA Group because of their structured methodology and the fact that they do not just offer advice - they actually implement improvements alongside us.

Why ERA Group?

TEM Catez elected to review two spend areas: packaging and waste materials (non-ferrous metals). The waste materials review quickly demonstrated that existing processes were already efficient and that no meaningful improvements were available. For TEM, this finding itself carried value - it was confirmation of ERA's transparency and integrity, and evidence that the consultants would not manufacture savings opportunities where none existed.

Within packaging, tangible opportunities emerged swiftly. ERA specialists Marko Skolaris, Armin Pinl, and Uros Kravos articulated the approach clearly: following an initial price review, they could not yet ascertain whether costs were at an appropriate level. However, through a structured process, they would develop a solution guaranteeing TEM would never pay more than the optimal market price – with quality and efficiency remaining entirely intact. This represented a comprehensive approach TEM had not previously undertaken.

The analysis comprehensively covered every packaging category, comparing costs, supplier terms, and supplier capabilities in their entirety. Market benchmarking exposed pricing anomalies and inefficiencies across corrugated cardboard, solid cardboard, and other packaging items. Supplier negotiations introduced simplified and improved contracts in which material costs were indexed to market benchmarks – thereby securing long-term pricing competitiveness rather than a one-off reduction.

Implementation was phased deliberately, prioritising the categories with the greatest saving potential first, thereby alleviating pressure on TEM's internal resources. New suppliers were introduced carefully, accompanied by technical rationalisations that improved the efficiency of packaging processes. Throughout the entire process, quality and service levels remained uncompromised.

There was never any question of optimising costs at the expense of quality. Packaging is critical – not merely for protecting products during transit, but for presentation on retail shelves. It had to remain impeccable.

Managing Change and Ensuring Continuity

One of the more significant challenges was guaranteeing uninterrupted production whilst new suppliers and packaging solutions were introduced in phases. ERA managed this risk by maintaining buffer stocks throughout the transition, coordinating deliveries with both existing and incoming suppliers simultaneously, and running pilot projects with product sampling to ensure new materials met every technical and marketing requirement before full adoption.

This structured approach to change management gave TEM the confidence that operational performance would not come under pressure during the transition – a commitment ERA delivered on fully.

Results: 19% in Measurable Savings

Best-value analysis had shown a potential saving of between 36% and 46% across key categories (corrugated cardboard: 36.7%; solid cardboard: 46.4%). TEM chose a balanced solution that delivered 19% in overall savings – a significant reduction achieved without increasing supplier complexity. Improved supplier contracts are now indexed to material market costs, new suppliers have been introduced without any disruption to production, and technical rationalisations have reduced process costs in conjunction with the direct material savings. Quality of service and product presentation have been maintained or improved.

For TEM, packaging was for a long time simply a cost of doing business. With ERA, it has become a source of strategic advantage. ERA identifies savings where you least expect them – transforming costs into opportunities for growth.