At the heart of our corrugated packaging business is a concept called ‘Performance Packaging’. We believe that the best package is the one that meets the performance and protection criteria required of it in the most efficient way possible, thus avoiding over-packaging and unnecessary cost.

The basic idea behind Performance Packaging is to specify board grades on the basis of knowledge about performance requirements in the customer's supply chain. This approach will deliver tangible benefits for our customers if boxes are tailor made to meet performance requirements, throughout the customer's total supply chain, at optimum cost/performance ratios.

Around this concept, the Smurfit Kappa Group has developed a suite of proprietary tools that allow us to determine the optimum design and material grade for any corrugated pack, while also maximising its utilisation of pallet and container space:

• BCT, (Box Compression Test) Requirement Model: Determines the stacking strength required based on the customer's supply chain.
• Paper to Box: Determines board and box properties given the papers, flute type and box dimensions specified.