DS Smith Hellas, leading fibre-based sustainable packaging company in Greece, announced the completion of the upgrade of its box plant in Korinthos.
The €17.6 million investment will lead to a further 30% increase in the plant’s production capacity. At the same time, it aims to upgrade equipment and amplify the quality of the products for innovative packaging solutions and capacity enhancements.
The investment in the Korinthos box plant is part of an overall €33.9 million investment plan and inaugurated with the upgrade of the Ierapetra box plant.
The investment plan being implemented over the course of two years at DS Smith’s three box plants in Greece is expected to significantly enhance production capacity, improve energy efficiency, and contribute to the company’s sustainability and innovation goals in the packaging sector.
Reinier Schlatmann, Regional Managing Director, DS Smith East Europe: “I am happy to announce the completion of an almost €18m investment in our Korinthos plant as part of an overall investment program totalling nearly €34m in the Greek market. This latest investment will significantly increase our capacity, quality, and portfolio of innovative packaging solutions. It will also enable plastic replacement alternatives and further strengthen our position in this important market”.
Enhancing efficiency
The company’s box plant in Korinthos is equipped with a state-of-the-art Bobst Master DRO machine to upgrade printing capabilities and improve energy efficiency. In addition, a 2.8 m Fosber Corrugator machine was installed to enhance the operational capability of the site and optimize the allocation of the plant’s resources, leading also to improved efficiencies. Furthermore, the company constructed a building extension of 825 m2 to accommodate the new corrugator, and completed the construction of the new 3,300m2 raw materials warehouse.
Boosting productivity
In addition, the expansion of the finished-products warehouse by 2.330 m2 is anticipated to be completed by November 2024. The infrastructure upgrade improves the logistics of materials - and boosts the plant’s productivity, creating a dedicated Work in Progress (WIP) area that is designed to effectively manage intermediate stages of the production process. Major upgrades were made to the plant’s peripheral equipment, including transformers and the glue kitchen facilities.
As a result of this upgrade, DS Smith customers will benefit from the opportunity to develop innovative and high-quality packaging solutions to promote their brands and ensure that their products stand out both in retail stores and online. High-quality sustainable packaging design also guarantees the protection and safe transportation of products and minimizes unnecessary waste in the production process with the reduction of and careful attention to the utilization of materials.
With the completion of the investment in the packaging box plant in Korinthos, DS Smith Hellas is demonstrating its commitment to helping customers reach their environmental targets and move towards a circular economy.
George Filippoglou, Managing Director at DS Smith: “Our recent investment in upgrading our production plant in Korinthos is another important step towards adopting good practices based on the circular economy. Our priority is to support our customers in reaching their environmental targets and offer them high quality packaging solutions, placing growth and sustainability at the heart of our business strategy. Through the dynamic investment plan that we are implementing, DS Smith Hellas is actively responding to Greece’s need for sustainable growth.”
DS Smith’s purpose is redefining packaging for a changing world and at an international level, the company’s Now & Next sustainability strategy has ambitious near, and long-term targets designed to allow us to lead the transition to a low carbon, circular economy. In support of this and in partnership with its customers, since 2020 DS Smith has replaced more than one billion pieces of single-use plastic, seven million pieces of which were replaced with the contribution of DS Smith Hellas.
At the same time, the company has created over 30,000 solutions based on circular economy values, thanks to the implementation of the unique and industry first Circular Design Metrics (CDM) tool that enables customers to assess the environmental footprint of their packaging solutions at each stage of the development process.