Jerome Peribere, CEO of Sealed Air Corp., is on a mission to improve the company’s efficiency and earnings.
Elmwood Park, N.J.-based Sealed Air acquired Sturtevant-based cleaning, sanitation and hygiene product manufacturer Diversey Inc. in 2011.
Peribere hosted a town hall with employees at the Sturtevant facility last week, taking them “under the tent” and sharing his plans and projections for the company’s three divisions. The presentation was webcast to Sealed Air locations throughout the company.
He reviewed some of the company’s accomplishments—from inventing bubble wrap to helping the U.S. team wrap its yacht in plastic film and win the America’s Cup.
But Peribere called for a transformation of the company to eliminate waste and improve profitability. Each employee decides every morning whether the company will be successful, he said.
His predecessor, William Hickey, led the acquisition of Diversey before Peribere took over in September 2012.
“I inherited a company which was in fact very slow at integrating Diversey and (it was) not very well done at the time,” he said. “The company has had diminishing returns every year in the last 10 years except one.”
Opportunities in e-commerce and innovation in packing and shipping will help the company move forward, Peribere said.
“We have to move from a product pushing company to a solution-based company,” he said. “It’s all about consumer loyalty. You have to surprise your customer positively every day.”
He told employees he expects them to “get fit and change the game” to improve upon the company’s performance.
Sealed Air reported $7.6 billion in revenue for 2012 and has about 26,000 employees worldwide.
