Irish Roots with Global Reach
From humble beginnings as a small box-making factory in Rathmines, to becoming the first Irish multinational, Smurfit Kappa is an innovative world leader in corrugated packaging
How has Smurfit Kappa evolved across the years?
We have been in business since 1934, starting out making cardboard boxes and packaging for the Irish market. Over the last 85 years, we have grown across the world establishing 8,400 facilities, creating packaging solutions to drive businesses to the next level. Smurfit Kappa now operates in 35 countries, with over 45,000 employees and 65,000 customers. In 2018, we achieved 8.9 billion euro in revenue, and our margins last year were the highest in our history at 19.3% return on capital. We remain the number one company in Europe to produce corrugated packaging, container-board and ‘bag in box,’ and are the only Pan-American producer of container-board and corrugated packaging. Although Ireland only represents 1% of our business, it has been a key contributor to the company’s success across the generations, and will remain the headquarters for Smurfit Kappa.
What is your key to success?
As Ireland’s first multinational, the company originated from Irish entrepreneurial spirit, a willingness to travel and take chances. Ireland’s human capital is a key contributor to its attractiveness, and our people are our biggest asset. Although the Irish market may be small for Smurfit Kappa, the human capital in Ireland has made the company a global powerhouse.
How are you utilizing innovation?
Our unique approach to innovation for business success is based on combining science, experience, big data and creativity to develop customized designs. We are leaders in sustainability, and we believe that our paper based product packaging solutions can help solve many global challenges, including plastics and e-commerce. Styrofoam and plastic can be effectively replaced with paper based solutions. This will reduce their use and the amounts that end up in our oceans. We all have a duty to protect the planet, and reducing plastic waste is the most efficient step.
Smurfit Kappa works on hundreds of innovative ideas on a daily basis. One particular idea under development targets the reduction of plastic use in agriculture. Placing sheets of plastic to protect seeding plants is currently the standard practice. We have developed a technique that lays a very thin virgin paper, which effectively has the same effect. This paper can be mulched, and decomposes into the soil within 18 months.
We work hand-in-hand with companies to reduce their Co2 emissions by tailoring our products to their needs. We recently worked with a major manufacturer of commercial vehicles to improve their packaging of windshields. With a new smart design replacing all of the internal plastic with paper, we reduced their Co2 emissions and the size of the package in half.
We have thousands of innovative eco-friendly ideas that can be turned into commercial products. We expect they will be extremely successful and a key contributor in the efforts to protect our planet.
What legacy will you leave as the Group CEO?
I have three things that drive me: loyalty, integrity and respect. These values cascade through the entire company. We have a cooperative culture that is distinctive. The vast majority of employees develop and grow their careers within the company, and remain here for most of their professional lives. At this juncture of my career, driving the cooperative values into everybody, making sure that we have an open, inclusive culture is something I really believe in. We are a modern, forward thinking, dynamic company, and have evolved with the times.