Manufacturers of paper based consumer end-products based in China have a new competitive advantage to access as DS Smith China has now begun operations, the group announced on Tuesday (July 12).

Promising to increase sales, lower costs, and manage risks, DS Smith’s Packaging Strategists are being offered by the company as a one-stop solution provider for global customers with Chinese operations who need multi-material global packaging solutions to ensure global packaging performance governance. The performance assurances from DS Smith are noted as being designed in the following specific departments: Packaging specifications, performances, color management, and FSC certification. There are several additional smaller applications addressed as well.

This is noted by the release as a "tremendous day for DS Smith and for our global customers with Chinese operations who can now count on DS Smith to transcribe and adapt their overall packaging performance needs into locally available specifications."

"DS Smith will also select and produce through rigorously audited external partners wherever they might be needed," said Olivier Cottard, DS Smith’s head of industries

DS Smith China is staffed by what is described as as in-house, cutting edge, multi-material designers that keep a sharp eye on total cost of ownership. And because every package must perform to the highest standards, the designers are complemented by a team of in-house quality auditors who continuously audit the company's local production partners.

"DS Smith China is committed to providing outstanding packaging performance through rigorous quality and compliance oversight," said Andreas Guip, managing director of DS Smith China. "That means local market tests and benchmarks, on the ground internal prototyping and lab testing, packaging supply chain process audits, and crucial factory compliance with customer standards. That compliance includes: production management systems (VMI, EDI, etc.), material traceability, health and safety regulations, child safety of any materials, legal and ethical standards on employment law, and audits of the complete range of raw material suppliers."

As Packaging Strategists, the expertise within DS Smith China goes beyond exceptional design to detailed study on packaging logistics flows, palletization and fill rate analysis, defining optimum production batch sizes, delivery frequencies, and inventory levels. Life is simpler with just one global central point of contact negotiating all commercial conditions, with customer’s global counterpart, for the different geographies impacted by a project (ex: China, Poland...). And the benefits of having local external packaging manufacturing partners quote for local market demands can quickly add up.

As part of DS Smith’s operations in China , dssmith.com will startup in Chinese beginning August 1.