Masters of boxing

This article is available for reading in Trade magazin 2023/10.

BélaCservenka
sales manager
DS Smith

“In the e-commerce supply chain, a parcel can go through up to 50 touch points before it reaches its destination, so packaging must meet high standards for the safe and secure transport of products”,

says Béla Cservenka, sales manager of DS Smith.

Balázs Sipos
marketing director
Sipospack

“The biggest change is happening in the domain of multipacks, which are becoming simpler in design and stronger from a product protection perspective. Another new trend is the growing popularity of ‘smart’ packaging solutions, which are interactive, and thanks to this can influence consumers, e.g. QR, augmented reality (AR), Spotify, TikTok codes”,

adds Balázs Sipos, marketing director of Sipospack Kft.

Security at every level

Every DS Smith packaging solution is developed using DS Smith’s unique tool, called Circular Design Metrics. The company uses it to assess and benchmark the sustainability performance of designs with the help of 8 indicators. This way they optimise packaging from the very beginning of the design process, in order to ensure that the end result is both efficient and sustainable. DS Smith is now busy developing a new generation of e-commerce designs. They are combining expertise from different area – materials development, IT, design and manufacturing technology. The company believes there are many opportunities to enhance the box and its contents through digital, online means.

E-commerce has brought significant automation to packaging processes

Aesthetics, practicality and reusability

The recently introduced EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) system has also created a challenge for businesses in the packaging industry. It is in this sector where we find the companies that actually develop and manufacture the products that are subject to the “new tax”.

György Kolozsvári 
sales director
STI Petőfi Nyomda

“We need to produce materials, cardboards and papers that are lighter, but also stronger and more durable. We also have to find innovative technological solutions to reduce the volume of material used”,

explains György Kolozsvári, sales director of STI Petőfi Nyomda Kft.

Zoltán Szőnyi
sales director
Dunapack

“From a customer experience perspective, the role of e-commerce packaging is even more important, because this is the point where the consumer first encounters the brand. How the packaging looks, its integrity, and the unboxing experience are all important parts of the brand experience. In addition to aesthetics, practicality and ease of use are also important”,

says Zoltan Szőnyi, sales director of Dunapack Kft.

The appearance of the packaging, its integrity, the unboxing experience are all important parts of the brand experience

Renewable technologies

At Dunapack one of the main innovation directions is simplifying and optimising the packaging material diversity of associated packaging, switching from less environmentally friendly space-fillers (e.g. technical foam) to more sustainable corrugated board. The company is unique in Hungary in the sense that it implements the full economic cycle: by collecting and recycling used paper, their packaging solutions are made from 90% recycled paper.

When shopping online, products from many different manufacturers/brands can be seen and compared at the same time. This makes it even more important to know that besides price, how and how effectively a product attracts the attention of customers.

Bart Dobbelaere
managing director
VPK

“The key has been acquiring the right technology, as with many boxes it became necessary to integrate the optimum combination of tear tape and adhesive strip into the box design, in order to ensure secure closure and easy opening”,

adds Bart Dobbelaere, managing director of VPK.

Reducing packaging time and energy

Nowadays, product packaging often has to be adapted to the dimensions of the multipack

It is difficult to predict trends

Gyula Sipos, managing director of Sipospack Kft. explained to our magazine that there are fewer shop assistants in stores than before, so nowadays the product has to sell itself off the shelf. Visual stimuli have become very important, together with smaller product formats – for both practical and economic reasons. At the moment, it is difficult to predict future trends, so it is a challenge for packaging companies to make well-informed investment decisions. Sipospack attaches great importance to the development and wider use of 100% homogeneous, i.e. recyclable material structures, thanks to which packaging material doesn’t end up as waste, but is recycled and reused,

“From 2024 we will expand our production plant, and we are going to start manufacturing finished products from our own technical waste. This means that our current recyclable packaging will also contain recycled material. Solar panels already provide for 40% of our energy use, and we will quadruple this with the new investment”,

explains the managing director. //