Irish corrugated packaging company Smurfit Kappa has announced plans to expand its Design2Market factory in the European market.
The packaging company describes its Design2Market factory as an innovation hub that combines expertise, experience, and real-time test facilities to develop and deliver new packaging solutions to the market, with minimal risk involvement.
As part of this expansion effort, the company will replicate the concept of this Design2Market factory across the UK, Germany, Italy, and Poland.
The latest decision to expand Design2Market factory comes after a year of successful operation of the original factory, which is located in the Netherlands.
Spanning approximately 3,000m², the site has supported more than 50 successful projects for various global consumer brands.
The facility is equipped to help customers in testing and adapting their packaging on a small scale, before introducing it into the market.
Smurfit CIO Arco Berkenbosch said: “We are thrilled to have reached this milestone. The journey of the Design2Market Factory has been remarkable and the trust placed in us by many industry-leading household names is a testament to our commitment to innovation and excellence at speed.
“Broadening our European footprint will help more customers to stand out in an increasingly competitive landscape and achieve their sustainability goals in line with our Better Planet Packaging initiative.”
A multidisciplinary team of Smurfit’s experts has been deployed at the Design2Market factory to take a packaging challenge and design a new solution that can be tested in the market in the following two weeks of its launch.
The company said the team designs these user-driven packaging prototypes by combining technical expertise and advanced AI models tailored to serve specific needs.
Aside from minimising the overall turnaround time and risk, the factory provides sustainable packaging alternatives to help Smurfit’s customers in reducing their carbon footprint while allowing them to meet their recyclability targets.
