Fifty-year success story

– As a reaction to the boom in FMCG sales during the Covid pandemic, the owners of Smurfit Kappa decided to invest in capacity building. Thanks to this, the output of the Párkány factory increased by 40 million boxes per year. Currently we are working on ensuring the maximum utilisation of our new machines, and on acquiring new customers now that our production repertoire is bigger than before.

– Which are the biggest challenges you are facing at the moment?

– With the new 6-colour machine, we can conquer new markets, which is a real challenge. Up until now, our customers could choose from a wide range of box shapes, but in printing we only used 4 colours. Another challenge is to help customers save money, with the help of our 50 years of experience and expertise at a time of economic difficulties.

– What do you think about the future of paper packaging and the role Smurfit Kappa can play in this segment?

– E-commerce became much more important during Covid, to the extent that the number of online purchases jumped 40% in Hungary and Slovakia, and in Central Europe in general. This also meant that product manufacturers had to switch to a type of packaging that met the requirements of e-commerce too. Users also began focusing more on the packaging to be recyclable or recycled, for which paper is the best material.

The Smurfit Kappa Štúrovo team in front of the factory

– How do you manage sustainability practices, and what steps are you taking to minimise the environmental impact of production?

– Sustainability is a priority for Smurfit Kappa. By 2050 we wish to reduce our CO2 emissions to zero. Besides cost-cutting, we can also help partners in calculating the CO2 footprint of the packaging they use, in every phase of its life cycle.

There is enough room for further growth at Smurfit Kappa’s Štúrovo site

– How do you see the influence of digitalisation and automation on your company’s operations and in the packaging industry in general?

– We utilise digital solutions in several areas of our operations. With certain partners we communicate via Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). Thanks to this, we could reduce their storage capacity needs by approximately 60%, and shortened our own job deadlines from 10-12 days to 4-5 days. In our factory, the whole manufacturing process is monitored online, so we always know what is happening on which machine. This high level of automation also means that if there is an error, we can trace it back to its roots and prevent another occurrence.