Smurfit Kappa has reached the 50th anniversary of developing automated packing lines. Since the first was launched in Sweden back in 1967, the company has developed, produced and installed over 8,000 innovative machines across many countries and market segments, servicing the world’s biggest brands. Bosch, Heinz, Kellogg’s and Kimberly-Clark are just some of the household names that Smurfit Kappa provides machine systems for.
In today’s world, where the consumer is king, speed, efficiency and flexibility are key for every packaging development. Smurfit Kappa combines packaging automation experience along with world-class packaging expertise. Adding logistic services such as SupplySmart and marketing services such as ShelfSmart to the mix gives the customer the total solution provider they are looking for. A recent example of this was when the Italian coffee giant Lavazza approached Smurfit Kappa to provide a total packaging solution that would provide optimal line efficiency and high speed to market. “We approached Smurfit Kappa in search of a solution for a new range of coffee capsules that would get us to market in the shortest possible time,” said Paolo Zonca, R&D Engineer at Lavazza. “The brief was challenging but Smurfit Kappa turned it around and provided both the consumer and retail packaging as well as the machine system that could pack 400 capsules per minute. Being able to offer a complete packing solution and work on both the packaging format and packing line simultaneously saved a lot of time and got our product on the shelves quicker.”
Koen De-Winter, Smurfit Kappa Machine Systems Manager, said, “At Smurfit Kappa we truly believe that automation liberates our creativity rather than limits it. The next 50 years hold unlimited possibilities for Smurfit Kappa as a total solution provider. With exciting new sales channels such as ecommerce growing, we will keep developing packing lines to launch more and more innovative packaging solutions and continuing to unlock value for our customers.”
