The strong growth of the plastics sector over the past few years and the continued substitution process that can be expected have prompted the British packaging company (Holdings) plc (HQ: 16 Great Peter Street, GB-London SW1 2BX), originally from the corrugated cardboard sector, to reorganise its group structure and set up a Plastics and Logistics Division (Brownsover Road, Rugby, GB-Warwickshire CV21 1HL) (see “Pointers” in PIE 16, 1999). Details were recently announced at a press conference in Frankfurt.

The new group sector has three sub-sectors. The plastics department of Kaysersberg Packaging S.A. (BP 27, S-68240 Kaysersberg) produces solid and hollow-chamber sheet in PP and manufactures returnable packaging based on this sheet. It also takes in products of the former Correx Plastics (GB-Gloucester, GL1 5SG) which merged with Kaysersberg in 1996. The second division “Liquid Packaging” is made up of the six David S Smith Liquid Packaging companies (Germany: Gewerbegebiet “Im großen Tal”, Willi-Bleicher-Str. 9, D-52353 Düren) and the DSS divisions “Worldwide Dispensers” and “Coating & Laminating”. Finally, the third sector takes in subsidiaries DucaPlast (GB-Gloucester GL4 3SN) with pallets and thermoformed parts, DW Plastics (B-3740 Bilzen) with bottle crates, and logistics service provider Demes GmbH (Eichendorffstr. 41, D-46354 Südlohn), newly acquired at the end of 1998, specialised in the management of reusable packaging.

The new company division has six production locations in Great Britain, two in France and one in each of Belgium, Germany and Poland. The 17 Demes transhipment points for returnable packaging systems in Germany are soon to be followed by similar locations throughout Europe – in France and Southern Europe to begin with, yet also in Poland. The latest sales figure for the division, which has a payroll of 1100, is EUR 180m. The product and services range now extends from Bag-in-Box packaging systems for liquids, via plastic taps for liquid containers, extruded hollow-chamber sheet and packaging for closed-circuit-delivery systems, right through to logistics management for closed distribution loops. The company explained to journalists that it was setting its stakes on the integration of its offerings, since considerable advantages are to be had from the combination of packaging production and logistics management.

READER SERVICE: Company portrait information / David S. Smith brochure (German/English): PIE-No. 44099 – Brochure collection on Kaysersberg (German): PIE-No. 44100 – Brochure collection on DucaPlast (English): PIE-No. 44101.