The opening of the corrugated plant heralds the company’s latest technology—keeping pace with increasing demands by consumers and retailers for fully recyclable boxes and “fit-to-product” packaging that reduces costs, waste, and “packing air” of irregularly shaped items. The facility can produce about 30,000 boxes/hr and 2 billion sq-ft of recyclable packaging a year. An underground scrap conveyer system will drastically reduce dust and noise typically found at conventional box plants.
DS Smith embraces sustainable strategies and views this plant as a job-creating economic catalyst for central Indiana.
“Our new facility in Indiana is unique to the U.S. market,” said Miles Roberts, Group CEO of DS Smith. “With our innovative packaging design and focus on sustainable materials, we can support our customers’ needs in a changing world, no matter how sophisticated their requirements. We look forward to serving many of the global brands we work with in Europe, as well as a range of new customers, with their U.S.-based packaging.”
Made with the lightest possible materials, a widespread practice by DS Smith in Europe, the Indiana-produced boxes will utilize 30% to 40% less fiber than what is traditionally used in the U.S. The lightweight material is a key differentiator of the products DS Smith will manufacture at the new facility. These next-generation boxes will enable brands to meet growing consumer calls for more sustainable packaging and a reduction of shipping costs across the U.S.
The facility was designed to model three cutting-edge DS Smith locations in Europe that are highly automated, customer-centric plants which can accept and process high-volume orders with short lead times—many with same-day turnaround.
"Our new box plant stands apart from the rest in the industry and is equipped with state-of-the-art equipment and machinery that relies on fully automated operations,” said Mark Ushpol, managing director of packaging for DS Smith in North America. “Our talent and teams are free to focus on working directly with customers designing custom packaging that reduces system waste, drives sustainability and provides immediate value to the supply chain.”
