DS Smith makes multi-million investment in packaging machinery for heavy products

DS Smith has invested €10 million (US$10.5 million) to install a Bahmuller and Goepfert Maschinen (BGM) combination machine and upgraded production line facilities at its packaging facility in Kunheim, France.

The new BGM machinery is anticipated to boost production speeds and enable DS Smith to respond to customer requests within shorter timescales. This will benefit customers who need  large-format triple-flute packaging solutions for heavy and bulky products in categories such as household appliances, chemical transportation and building materials for the construction industry. 

Thibault Laumonier, president at DS Smith Packaging in France, says: “The inauguration of this BGM unit into our packaging facility in Kunheim bolsters our ability to provide leading, fiber-based packaging solutions.” 

“In line with our sustainability strategy, Now & Next, it also reaffirms our commitment to help customers in the region transition to the circular economy, by eliminating waste and pollution by design and keeping materials and products in use for longer.”

Sustainable packaging variation

The BGM (Bahmuller und Goepfert Maschinen) machine is 65 m long and 11 m wide, and it covers a total area of 515 square meters.

The machine can print, die-cut, fold and glue large-format sheets of corrugated board in a single pass. Other technical features include an ability to manage formats up to 2000 and 5500 mm, production sheets of up to 7,000 per hour, two-color printing, flexible assembly techniques such as gluing and stapling, and capacity for a combination of the two.

The DS Smith packaging facility in Kunheim is equipped with two corrugator machines and numerous converting lines. Its annual production capacity is approximately 60,000 metric tons (97 million square meters) across a range of packaging solutions. 

In addition, the Kunheim packaging facility has benefited from a new Automated Flow Management system incorporating a transfer shuttle and a double in-line center (to center and deposit stacks of cardboard sheets on a pallet). This additional  equipment will enable the DS Smith design and implementation teams to create various sustainable packaging solutions for customers from different industrial sectors.