DS Smith officially opens new consumer packaging plant in Germany
DS Smith officially opened its newly-built display and consumer packaging plant in Erlensee, Germany. The plant is part of the company's investment program that is designed to help it double in size. Construction of the new facility began in August 2015 and completed in September this year.
DS Smith has invested approximately 50 million Euros in the project — developing the new plant and equipping it with the latest printing and finishing technology. The 45,000 square metre site includes production and logistics facilities plus conference rooms and offices.
The new plant replaces the company’s previous site ten kilometres away at Hanau, which could no longer meet the requirements of a highly efficient industrial business model. The plant will also consolidate the display and consumer packaging activities of DS Smith in the region, to maximize efficiency.
All 250 members of staff from the previous site are taking up their current roles at the new site, ensuring the business maintains all current expertise from within the business. The total number of employees will increase within the next couple of years to enable DS Smith to achieve its display and consumer packaging growth strategy.
About the new consumer packaging plant in Germany
There is an Impact and PackRight Centre located at the site where customers can experience the entire supply cycle under realistic conditions, and collaborate with DS Smith to produce their picture-perfect pack. The Impact Centre is set up to look like a real supermarket and back-of-store area that allows DS Smith and its customers to look at the effectiveness of packaging in a real-life environment. The PackRight Centre provides a physical space for customers to meet with their packaging strategist and work together to perfect the design and concept. In addition, there will be a Trend & Innovation Area where visitors can get information about new developments in the industry like virtual reality applications, to increase sales at Point of Sale.
DS Smith has been investing heavily in the Germany and Switzerland region in recent years. This includes introducing a modern inter alia digital printing machine and equipping two corrugators with a new dry end to produce higher quality products at a faster pace than before. The business has also introduced three new die cutters across the region, plus two new inline machines, to create higher-quality production. It has complemented these developments with investments in logistics, IT and health and safety.
