DS Smith increases digitalization with BOBST Connect insights

Mex, Switzerland, 18 September 2025

DS Smith, an International Paper company and a leading international provider of fiber-based and sustainable packaging solutions, has implemented the BOBST Connect digital platform to enhance operations by bringing data and digital services together into one fully connected platform. These services are currently being utilized across DS Smith facilities in the EMEA (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa) region.

DS Smith has collaborated with BOBST for over five decades, beginning in 1971 with the installation of a BOBST flatbed die-cutter at its packaging facility in Toury, France. This long-standing strategic partnership in the procurement of specialized converting equipment means that two-thirds of DS Smith’s converting machinery is manufactured by BOBST. As part of this collaboration, DS Smith has also adopted BOBST Connect technology at its corrugated cardboard packaging facility in Belchatow, Poland.

Digitalizing processes

As a cloud-based digital platform, BOBST Connect is designed to bridge the gap between machines and the digital world, enhancing packaging productivity. At the core of key operations, the technology integrates data and digital services with built-in expertise, such as BOBST machine insights. This platform supports DS Smith’s packaging production by providing a comprehensive overview and a streamlined data flow, from PDF format to the final product.

BOBST Connect is designed to enable the ongoing digitalization of operations and provide solutions for process management, production data, and insights. These tools facilitate improved planning, better-informed decision making, more effective interventions, and continuous optimization. BOBST Connect also offers capabilities to leverage unique data insights both on-site in DS Smith facilities and remotely. By adopting this data-driven and interconnected operational strategy, DS Smith is supported in consistently delivering high-quality products, on schedule, in full, and tailored to every customer.

Sustainable functionalities

As a dynamic and modular solution, BOBST Connect is continually evolving with new functionalities. These include an Energy Monitoring feature designed to measure energy consumption, provide real-time cost analysis, identify areas for efficiency improvement, optimize energy costs, and reduce carbon emissions.

François Duboin, Technical Excellence Director, DS Smith Packaging EMEA, says: “We have used the BOBST Connect platform since its inception, and the system has been onboarded on our most recently installed converting lines. Having already seen benefits in terms of performance, we are excited to experience and have access to the wealth of data and the advances in efficiency and productivity that the platform helps us to unlock. We are rapidly increasing our knowledge of the power of data and its potential for use across our footprint in Europe.”

“We continue to expand our digitalization tools in our manufacturing processes and BOBST Connect contributes towards the optimization of our assets and observation of our energy reductions, as we pave the way for an industry-wide transition to a circular economy,” he concludes.

Both DS Smith and BOBST share a strategy and a vision for the packaging industry rooted in a sustainable future and circular economy, and BOBST’s vision is built on the four key pillars of connectivity, digitalization, automation, and sustainability.

Szymon Ochociński, Digital Performance Solutions Manager at BOBST, comments: “BOBST and DS Smith have built a strong partnership over the decades and the goal has always been to develop equipment and technology to the highest specification possible. DS Smith is a key innovator in the packaging industry and an invaluable partner in connecting and digitalizing the value chain to drive efficiencies and sustainability for all stakeholders. We are delighted to be supporting an industry-wide transition to a circular economy with BOBST Connect.”

DS Smith plays a key role in the value chain across a variety of sectors including e-commerce, FMCG (Fast-Moving Consumer Goods), food and beverage, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, agriculture, automotive, and industrials.

Through its purpose of Redefining Packaging for a Changing World and its Now & Next Sustainability Strategy, the company is committed to leading the transition to a circular economy, and delivering innovative, sustainable packaging solutions for its customers and society at large, alongside replacing problematic plastics, reducing the carbon footprint in supply chains, and providing recycling and reuse solutions.

The release (available in English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Japanese and Chinese) can be downloaded here:

About DS Smith
​DS Smith, an International Paper company, is a leading global provider of sustainable fiber-based packaging, which is supported by recycling and papermaking operations. The company plays a central role in the value chain across sectors including e-commerce, fast moving consumer goods, food and beverage, and industrials. It has a target-led Now & Next sustainability strategy, Redefining Packaging for a Changing World and is committed to leading an industry-wide transition to a circular economy while delivering sustainable circular solutions for customers. As a part of this mandate, there is a focus on replacing plastics, taking carbon out of supply chains, providing recycling solutions, innovation and significant investment into Research & Development including alternative materials and fibers. The company has a progressive approach to the service and optimization of sustainable supply chains, a well-known and bespoke ‘Box-to-Box’ in fourteen days operational model and a unique Circular Design Metrics approach. It is a proactive member of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, and the original DS Smith box-making business was started by the London based Smith family in the 1940s. Website - www.dssmith.com

About International Paper
​International Paper (NYSE: IP; LSE: IPC) is the global leader in sustainable packaging solutions. With company headquarters in Memphis, Tennessee, USA, and EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) headquarters in London, UK, we employ more than 65,000 team members and serve customers around the world with operations in more than thirty countries. Together with our customers, we make the world safer and more productive, one sustainable packaging solution at a time. Net sales for 2024 were $18.6 billion. In 2025, International Paper acquired DS Smith creating an industry leader focused on the attractive and growing North American and EMEA regions. Website - www.internationalpaper.com

About BOBST
​We are one of the world’s leading suppliers of substrate processing, printing and converting equipment and services for the label, flexible packaging, folding carton and corrugated industries. Our vision is to shape the future of the packaging world based on four pillars: connectivity, digitalization, automation and sustainability.
​Founded in 1890 by Joseph Bobst in Lausanne, Switzerland, BOBST has a presence in more than 50 countries, runs 21 production facilities in 12 countries and employs more than 6 400 people around the world. The firm recorded a consolidated turnover of CHF 1.891 billion for the year ended December 31, 2024.

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​Gudrun Alex
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​Mobile: +49 160 48 41 439
​Email: gudrun.alex@bobst.com

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