DS Smith Plc SWOT and PESTLE Analysis

Strength

1. Employing innovation for introducing sustainable packaging solutions: DS Smith utilizes inclusive innovation to produce best solutions of sustainable packaging. It has a team strength of 700 designers and innovators. The designers have 9 Impact Centres, where they innovate and share ideas with manufacturing units. There are 36 PackRight Centres innovate with customers to share ideas of innovative packaging with each other. DS Smith offers performance packaging for its customers. Customers demonstrate their products and product cycle and DS Smith develops packaging solutions as per the requirements. With this customized service, DS Smith aims to provide longevity of packaging as per requirement, reduce packaging weight and optimize the cost of packaging of the customers. Paper packaging has taken the shape of mass packaging with the advent of E-commerce. E-commerce channels demand robust packaging of different shapes and sizes. Focusing on Ecommerce packaging, DS Smith Developed the DISCS, expanding into tests named as Drop, Impact, Shock, Crush and Shake. DISCS replicate the real situation of E-Commerce parcels. DS collaborated with Amazon to innovate Amazons Frustration Free Packaging, which aims at ease of packaging, fright efficiency through packaging weight reduction and ease of handling. DS Smith also innovated and progresses with the “Wowing” unboxing experience packaging for its customers aiming innovation for best unboxing experience. Recently, the company innovated the ECO Bowl in collaboration, which uses 85% loess plastic for fresh food packaging. It is provided with a cardboard bowl for sturdiness.

Weakness

Opportunity

1. Paper packaging presenting promising alternatives to plastic ones: Growth of supermarkets and e-commerce has led to the growth of packaging industry as well. This has led to growth of plastic and paper packaging industries. With surging volume, concerns for sustainable solutions are also growing. Plastic is associated with pollution and limited cycles of re-usage. Governments are enforcing stringent regulations and environmental awareness among users is forcing business stakeholders to look for sustainable packaging solutions. This presents a massive opportunity for the paper packaging segment to play a pivotal role in capturing the market by providing eco-friendly sustainable solutions. In Europe, it is mandatory to recycle 100% of plastic by 2030. Presently, 86% of packaging and only 42% of plastic packages are recycled. This makes dependence on paper packaging easier and viable. The corrugated market is expected to generate $700 million every year on the back of drifting preferences away from plastic. This presents a huge opportunity to DS Smith to grow on the strength of its E-commerce focused innovations like DISCS, ECO Bowl, etc.

Threats

Political

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Economic

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Social

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Technological

1. Digitization of transactions with suppliers: Businesses are rapidly embracing digitization in their day to day operations. It increases speed of execution, restricts human errors and reduces dependency. DS Smith understands this value of digitization and implements it in supplier management processes too. The European paper packaging mogul, has moved from manual to electronic systems for recording and managing financial transactions for its suppliers and vendors. DS Smith has made generation of Purchase Orders strictly mandatory before execution of any order. Purchase Orders are mailed automatically to suppliers. Likewise, invoicing is also accepted electronically based on International supplier policy of DS Smith and payments are processed in a hassle-free fashion. Netherlands, Spain and Belgium facilities have transformed into electronic financial operations and other regions are swiftly migrating towards the same.

Legal

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Environmental

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