Businessmodel of Sealed Air Corporation

Customer Segments

Sealed Air provides a range of products and services to a diverse range of customers, primarily businesses associated with manufacturing processes and food handling. The Company serves customers across the following industries, among others:

• Foodservice and Hospitality Businesses, including foodservice outlets such as restaurants, cafes, delis, and caterers, as well as hotels and other hospitality providers;
• Food and Beverage Companies, including producers of various consumer packaged goods, specialist brewing and beverage manufacturers, and food retailers;
• Medical and Healthcare, including pharmaceutical and medical manufacturing companies, and healthcare providers;
• Construction and Facilities Management, including building service contractors, specialist construction firms, and facilities management providers;
• Ecommerce, including online retailers across various segments;
• Transportation and Logistics, including transportation companies, and logistics service providers; and
• Government, including local and federal government bodies and public entities. Sealed Air serves a number of high-profile customers, including Coca Cola, McDonald’s India, and Kroger Corporation. In 2015 no customer or affiliated group of customers accounted for 10% or more of Sealed Air’s consolidated net sales.

Sealed Air’s largest market is North America, principally comprising its native US. The Company, however, has an extensive international customer base, serving customers in 169 countries across Latin America, Asia Pacific, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.

Value Propositions

Sealed Air provides value to its customers in the following ways:

• Its industry standing and reputation, with the Company broadly recognised as one of the leading providers of food safety and facility hygiene services, having a positive track record for providing effective and reliable services, and counting a number of high-profile businesses among its customers;
• Its portfolio of brands, with the Company controlling a wide range of packaging and hygiene brands, including Cryovac, Jiffy, Diversey, and Instapak, which are widely used across the Company’s target industries;
• Its broad range of solutions, with the Company offering a broad range of products and services, including food hygiene and medical packaging products, that provide solutions across multiple industries;
• Its international operations, with the Company maintaining an operational presence in the US and 61 other countries across the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, serving clients across 169 countries worldwide; and
• Its extensive patent portfolio, with the Company controlling a wide array of patents, using proprietary technologies in its products and processes, making its offering unique in the market. ### Channels

Sealed Air operates a website at www.sealedair.com, through which it provides information on its various products, services, and target industries. The Company does not operate an online sales channel; it does, however, operate an online customer portal at www.myextracare.sealedair.com, through which customers are able to access various tools and resources, and access customer support.

Sealed Air employs approximately 7,100 sales, marketing and customer service personnel around the world, who sell and market the Company’s products to and through a large number of distributors, fabricators, converters, e-commerce and mail order fulfillment firms, and contract packaging firms, as well as directly to end-users. The Company operates a network of sales and service locations, as well as dedicated retail centres, across the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.

Sealed Air sales operations are supported by a network of facilities, including distribution infrastructure, as well as a network of 29 American Society for Testing and Materials International-approved Product Care design and testing centres.

Customer Relationships

Sealed Air does not sell products and services to its customers on a self-service basis. It does, however operate an online customer portal, which allows customers to access certain resources and tools without interacting with members of the Company’s sales and service teams.

Sealed Air largely makes its sales directly to customers, consulting with them over a period of time to establish the details of each individual sales and supply contract. While the Company seeks to establish long-term relationships and recurring business, it does not currently have any material long-term contracts for the distribution of its products.

To support its equipment systems and the marketing of its solutions, Sealed Air provides field technical services to its customers worldwide, including system installation, integration and monitoring systems, repair and upgrade services, operator training in the efficient use of its systems, and equipment layout and design services.

The Company also operates three Packforum innovation and learning centres located in the US, France, and China, through which its assists customers in identifying the appropriate packaging materials and systems to meet their needs, as well as offering ideation services, educational seminars, employee training and customised graphic design services.

Customers can also contact Sealed Air’s dedicated support staff over the phone, by email, or via an online contact form in order to receive personalised responses to queries and enquiries. Additionally, customers are able to follow the Company’s activities, and interact with its personnel directly, through its various social media accounts, including with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

Key Activities

Sealed Air develops, markets and sells various products and solutions designed to provide food safety and security, facility hygiene, and product protection.

The Company aligns its operations into three core reportable business segments: Food Care, which provides integrated system solutions for customers in the food industry; Diversey Care, which integrates cleaning chemicals, floor care machines, cleaning tools and equipment, and a range of services, including application and employee training, auditing of hygiene and appearance, and water and energy management; and Product Care, which provides various packaging and product care solutions, considering cushioning, void fill, surface protection, retail display, containment and dunnage needs.

Sealed Air serves customers across a broad range of industries, including the foodservice, healthcare and medical, and logistics sectors.

Key Partners

Sealed Air works closely with a network of partners across multiple business sectors. These partners include:

• Supplier and Vendor Partners, including suppliers of raw materials, equipment, and tools used in the Company’s manufacturing processes, as well as providers of services and technologies that are used more broadly across the enterprise;
• Channel and Distribution Partners, including the Company’s network of third-party sales and distribution partners, including specialist distributors, which support the Company’s sales and marketing operations;
• Research and Development Partners, including various research and education institutions and other companies that work with the Company on developing new and innovative products and processes;
• Industry Partners, including various industry bodies and regulators, with which the Company works to promote and maintain standards within the relevant industries; and
• Strategic and Alliance Partners, including companies across multiple sectors with which the Company collaborates on joint projects. Sealed Air has a number of partnerships in place, including a strategic partnership with UPS to improve packaging and shipping solutions, and a distribution tie-up with Box On Demand. The Company also partners with many of its customers to provide integrated packaging and hygiene solutions, with a view to enhancing their brands in the marketplace.

Key Resources

Sealed Air’s key resources are its intellectual properties and technologies, its raw materials and equipment, its supply chain, its network of manufacturing and other facilities, its IT and communications infrastructure, its, sales and marketing channels, its partnerships, and its personnel.

Sealed Air is the owner or licensee of more than 4,000 US and foreign patents and patent applications, as well as over 10,600 US and foreign trademark registrations and trademark applications that relate to many of its products, manufacturing processes and equipment. Searches of records published by the US Patent and trademark Office identified a number of patent applications filed in Sealed Air’s name. including applications entitled ‘Dispensing and sealing system’, ‘Automated inflation device’ and ‘Fluid level sensor’.

Sealed Air also owns and or leases a number of physical properties that are key to its operations, notably its network of 103 manufacturing facilities across the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, the middle East, and Africa.

Cost Structure

Sealed air incurs costs in relation to the development of its technologies and solutions, the procurement of materials and equipment, the procurement of services, the operation of its manufacturing and distribution facilities, the maintenance of its IT and communications infrastructure, the operation of its sales and marketing channels, the management of its partnerships, and the retention of its personnel.

In 2015 Sealed Air recorded total cost of sales in the amount of $4.44 billion and selling, general and administrative costs totalling $1.65 billion. The Company’s research and development costs for the year were $129 million.

Revenue Streams

Sealed Air generates revenue through the sale of various food hygiene and packaging products, as well as the provision of various related services. Its revenue is derived under sales and service contracts.

In 2015 Sealed Air generated net sales for the year in the amount of $7.03 billion, down slightly on the $7.75 billion recorded by the Company in 2014. Close to half of the Company’s revenue, around $3.41 billion, was generated by the Company’s Food Care segment, with the Company’s remaining revenue generated relatively evenly by its Diversey Care and Product Care segments.