For several months Switzerland's economy has been reeling from the effects of the franc’s revaluation. Aside from the plastics industry, which has been particularly hard hit (see Plasteurope.com of 26.03.2015), the country's export-oriented packaging producers are also complaining that the currency’s strength is making it more difficult for them to conduct business in Europe. According to a new poll by the Swiss Packaging Institute (SVI, Bern; www.svi-verpackung.ch), almost three-quarters of the companies surveyed have felt the effect of the exchange rate changes that transformed the market after the country’s national bank in January lifted the provision that had fixed the franc’s minimum value at 1,20 against the euro.

The full details of the survey results show that while about 27% of the companies polled by SVI do not yet feel any added pressure, about 81% of respondents expect to be operating in a "disadvantageous business environment" in the near future. Only 19% anticipate no change to the current situation. "Now is the time for politicians to act! The framework in which the Swiss economy operates finally needs to be improved," said SVI managing director Andreas Zopfi.

The most common tactics used to date to reduce the impact of the franc’s gains include the elimination of non-profitable products from companies’ portfolios (a measure taken by about 20% of poll respondents), the imposition of a longer working week (adopted by 15%) and temporary salary cuts (imposed by about 11%). With a view to future plans, about 72% of managers plan to give up production of non-profitable goods, while some 41% intend to prolong working hours. Only about 33% are mulling outsourcing their production.

The survey found that at 92%, the vast majority of respondents are opposed to paying their workers’ salaries in euros, while 69% came out against reduced working hours. About 61% of those polled were opposed to temporary salary cuts and 55% refused to consider the possibility of outsourcing their production. As for future investment, 33% of respondents said they plan to focus on optimising processes, while about 30% intend to concentrate on innovation and new product development. About 20% of companies polled plan to invest in training their employees while 17% would like to invest in new machinery. This is where SVI comes in – both by means of a comprehensive training programme as well as numerous events (see Plasteurope.com of 20.04.2015).

About half of the firms polled (52%) consider a rate of CHF 1.20-1.30 to the euro as fair. Some 30% can also imagine an exchange rate of CHF 1.10-1.20 per euro, while only about 6% consider an exchange rate of below CHF 1.10 per euro as fair.

About 62% of the 54 companies participating in the poll are specialised in packaging and packaging aids, while 13% offer related services and 11% are classified as machinery and parts suppliers. In addition, 8% of those surveyed are considered to be suppliers, while 6% belong to the packing industry or are traders. Half the companies polled have workforces ranging from 11-100 employees, while 29% have a workforce of 101-500, and only 10% have an employee count of less than 10. Only 4% of survey respondents have a headcount of more than 1,000 workers.