en.Wedoany.com Reported - Recently, UK packaging company DS Smith and French smart home device manufacturer SOMFY have launched a fully recyclable corrugated cardboard packaging solution for the transport protection of roller shutter motors. This solution replaces traditional polystyrene inserts with fiber-based corrugated cardboard inserts, enhancing packaging recyclability for industrial transport and warehousing processes.
This collaboration primarily addresses the issue of material substitution in industrial product transport packaging. Roller shutter motors require protection against impact, displacement, and crushing during warehousing, handling, and transportation. Traditional polystyrene inserts offer cushioning performance but are difficult to recycle and reuse, and do not align with the increasingly stringent trend of plastic reduction in industrial packaging. The corrugated cardboard insert developed by DS Smith and SOMFY aims to replace the internal support components originally made of plastic foam with recyclable paper-based materials, without compromising product protection capabilities. For companies dealing in automated roller shutters, blinds, curtains, door controls, and building equipment, this type of packaging optimization, while not directly altering core product performance, can impact supply chain carbon reduction, warehousing efficiency, customer recycling processes, and corporate sustainable procurement evaluations.
The solution was jointly developed by DS Smith's design team based in Kunheim, France, and SOMFY. Both parties engaged in multiple rounds of communication regarding product specifications, production requirements, and real-world usage conditions, successively forming several design concepts before advancing to the application stage after testing, adjustment, and optimization. Public information indicates that the packaging utilizes Kraft electrical-grade corrugated cardboard for the inserts, emphasizing strength, rigidity, and durability. It can accommodate 34 different motor lengths and be adjusted to 4 box sizes. The modular design allows a single solution set to cover multiple SOMFY product specifications, reducing the complexity associated with developing separate packaging structures for different motors.
This design change also corresponds to the on-site efficiency requirements of industrial packaging. Roller shutter motors are mass-produced and mass-shipped products; if the packaging insert assembly is complex, it directly affects production line pace, warehouse turnover, and logistics preparation efficiency. DS Smith disclosed that this solution employs a rapid assembly process to match the production rhythm of industrial products; simultaneously, the cardboard inserts are more compact than traditional expanded polystyrene inserts, potentially reducing storage volume. For manufacturing enterprises, a reduction in packaging volume implies potential improvements in warehouse space, transport loading, turnover management, and waste disposal processes. Compared to simply changing materials, standardization, adjustability, and ease of assembly are the key conditions determining whether paper-based packaging can enter industrial mass application.
SOMFY is advancing this project within the framework of the group's decarbonization strategy and product eco-design principles. The company specializes in automation controls for residential and building opening and closing systems, with products covering automated roller shutters, blinds, curtains, doors, garage doors, and related smart home systems. For a global equipment manufacturer like SOMFY, reducing plastic in packaging is not merely an environmental image project; it integrates into supply chain management, customer delivery, regulatory compliance, and brand sustainability commitments. By replacing polystyrene with paper-based inserts, the company can establish a more consistent solution balancing product protection, packaging recycling, and industrial processes, also providing a structural template for introducing recyclable packaging to more motors and building automation products in the future.
DS Smith's business foundation also lends replicability to this collaboration. Originating from a box-making business in East London, UK, the company currently offers packaging, paper products, and recycling services, operating in multiple countries with a long-term focus on sustainable fiber-based packaging and the circular economy. This partnership with SOMFY is not about replacing one type of ordinary cardboard box with another, but rather redesigning the internal cushioning and fixing structure for industrial products like motors that have specific size, weight, and protection requirements. If this solution operates stably within SOMFY's roller shutter motor supply chain, similar designs could potentially extend to packaging for motors, controllers, small electromechanical devices, building automation components, and other industrial goods requiring plastic foam protection.
Subsequent project milestones include the rollout of this packaging solution across more SOMFY product specifications, verification of actual loss rates during warehousing and transport, integration of the packaging recycling process, and whether DS Smith will replicate the related modular cardboard insert solution for other industrial clients. At this stage, public information has not disclosed the specific plastic reduction weight, carbon emission reduction, annual usage scale, or procurement value resulting from replacing polystyrene inserts. Therefore, this collaboration should not be extrapolated into a quantified emission reduction project or a long-term procurement contract.
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