DS Smith has announced the installation of a Bahmuller and Goepfert Maschinen (BGM) combination machine and upgraded production line facilities at its packaging operations in Kunheim, France.
The firm said the €10 million investment underlines its commitment to providing sustainable and fibre-based packaging solutions to customers in the region, including those with industrial, heavy-duty, or bulky product requirements.
The BGM machine is 65m in length and 11m-wide. It covers a total area of 515m² and has the capacity to print, die-cut, fold, and glue large-format sheets of corrugated board in a single pass. Other features include an ability to manage formats up to 2,000 and 5,500mm, production sheets of up to 7,000 per hour, two-colour printing, and flexible assembly techniques such as gluing and stapling, and with capacity for a combination of the two.
DS Smith the new machinery is anticipated to boost production speeds and enable the business to respond to customer requests more quickly. This is tipped to benefit customers who need to create 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.
The Kunheim facility is also equipped with two corrugator machines and numerous converting lines, with an annual production capacity of around 60,000 tonnes across a range of packaging solutions.
The site has also welcomed a new automated flow management system incorporating a transfer shuttle and a double in-line centre.
Thibault Laumonier, president, DS Smith Packaging, France, said, “The inauguration of this BGM unit into our packaging facility in Kunheim represents an investment of €10 million and bolsters our ability to provide leading, fibre-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.”
