DS Smith is world beater at Worldstar Packaging Awards

DS Smith has won international recognition for design and innovation at the Worldstar Packaging Awards – run by the World Packaging Organisation.

A total of eight honours were awarded to DS Smith, including four to the UK region for packaging created for the food & drink and automotive sectors.

DS Smith scooped awards for the Hugh Johnson Presentation Wine Pack commissioned by Laithwaite’s Wine, and a pack designed to hold live pea shoots for VHB Ltd on behalf of a leading retailer. In addition DS Smith picked up two awards for its production of a Cylinder Head Storage Pack and Engine Shipper.

Tony Foster, Sector Director at DS Smith, said: “The Worldstar Awards are great recognition for the teams in the UK, who work tirelessly to develop packaging that protects products in transit, helps customers sell more in store and reduces cost and waste in the supply chain”.

“The end result involves design innovation, creativity and awareness of the environmental impact of both the product and the process behind it.”

Details of DS Smith winners:

• Laithwaite’s Wine, the independent wine merchant, requested a pack that offers a secure means of mailing wine safely, providing a reduction in supply chain cost as well as cutting down on the use of unsustainable materials such as wooden frame boxes. The pack provided premium presentation for a premium product, in an attractive and innovative pack that exceeded customer expectations and reduced costs.
• VHB Ltd required packaging to replace thermoformed plastic trays whilst safely transporting the contents and providing a retail ready pack that was quick and easy to display on the shelves. The trays were colour matched to their retail customer’s own label brand colour, providing an easy-to-recognise brand cue for customers. Using a single material for the pack also made recycling easier with corrugated cardboard being 100 per cent recyclable.
• The Cylinder Head pack developed in DS Smit’s Oldbury facility provides open access for automated loading and unloading, while securely positioning the cylinder heads within the pack. The pack won plaudits because it has been designed to work as effectively as possible in warehouses and throughout the supply chain.
• The Engine Shipper pack is designed to ship two car engines from the UK to China and has been tested to a compression load of 6000Kg. The solution improves the capacity of a 40’ shipping container by 22 per cent and the overall use of containers has decreased by 18 per cent, saving approximately £350,000 every year.

The World Packaging Organisation is a non-profit, non-governmental, international federation of national packaging institutes and associations, regional packaging federations and other interested parties including corporations and trade associations.

DS Smith’s success at the Worldstar Awards follows a highly successful 2012 which saw the company pick up leading honours at the UK Packaging Awards, StarPack Green Apple Environment Awards and POPAI Awards.

DS Smith is the UK’s leading supplier of corrugated packaging. The company’s national network of manufacturing plants services thousands of customers, from multinationals to local businesses.