Metsä Board, a leading European producer of premium fresh fibre paperboards, including folding boxboards, foodservice boards and white kraftliners, and Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (HEIDELBERG), a global market leader in integrated, future‑ready solutions for the printing, packaging and converting industries, have entered into a strategic collaboration.
The collaboration seeks to enhance the end‑to‑end value chain of packaging production by developing innovative packaging solutions that improve both operational performance and the consumer experience. It includes joint R&D projects, pilot production runs and customer demonstrations at HEIDELBERG’s Print Media Centres as well as Metsä Board’s Excellence Centre and Design Studios.
New opportunities for customers to achieve high productivity and efficient production workflows
By combining Metsä Board’s expertise in high‑quality, lightweight paperboard materials with HEIDELBERG’s advanced offset, flexographic, digital printing and converting technologies, the partnership aims to accelerate innovation across the packaging value chain while opening up new opportunities for customers to achieve high productivity and efficient production workflows.
"Our collaboration with HEIDELBERG allows us to offer our customers new possibilities in packaging design and production efficiency, while maintaining our commitment to sustainability and premium quality," says Erja Hyrsky, SVP, Commercial Operations at Metsä Board.
"Working closely with HEIDELBERG as a system integrator enables faster development and testing of solutions that support our customers’ evolving packaging needs," Hyrsky continues.
Future-ready packaging solutions in a rapidly evolving market
Metsä Board’s recyclable, fresh fibre-based paperboards, combined with HEIDELBERG’s efficient, high-performance production processes, provide a strong platform for developing packaging solutions that address increasing regulatory and performance requirements.
"By combining advanced printing and converting technologies with Metsä Board’s premium lightweight paperboard, HEIDELBERG enables high‑performance packaging applications for demanding market and regulatory requirements" says Andreas Lang, SVP, Global Accounts and Packaging, at HEIDELBERG.
Through this collaboration, both companies aim to support customers in developing future-ready packaging solutions in a rapidly evolving market.
“The cooperation combines materials expertise and production technology for demanding packaging applications, Lang concludes.