In recognising the industry change towards retail ready packs, Smurfit Kappa has significantly changed their approach to design. Every designer in every plant understands the factors influencing the success or failure of shelf ready packaging and takes into consideration the hidden consumer – the shelf stacker – who within the supply chain makes a critical difference to on-shelf availability in retail stores.

With the support of ASDA, Tesco and Sainsburys, all Smurfit Kappa designers have undertaken work experience of stacking shelves within stores and recognise the difficulties in identifying, preparing and displaying products. This hands on experience allows designers to develop in-store solutions that considers the retail experience from the point of view of the:-

• Consumer
• Shelf Stacker
• Retailer

Within each of the design studios, Smurfit Kappa aim to recreate the retail environment with the installation of supermarket shelves allowing customers to easily assess the on-shelf functionality and presence of designs.

All designers have access to the latest CAD systems to create designs quickly and efficiently that can be produced in either 3D files or as physical samples. For those customers requiring samples, Smurfit Kappa also have a unique system that prints direct on to the surface of the board allowing the design and print to be sampled together.