Roberto Gayoso, Director of the Tarragona and Vigo plants: "Our move is a response to a commitment to occupational health and safety"

DS Smith Tecnicarton has recently inaugurated its new plant in Tarragona. This is an area of 8,500 square metres in the town of L'Arboç (Tarragona), 15 kilometres from the old plant. Roberto Gayoso, who took over the management of the Catalonia plant in October 2017 and has also been managing the Vigo plant since 2001, is in charge of this facility

Question: Roberto, why is DS Smith Tecnicarton moving to a new facility?

Answer: Until September 2018, DS Smith Tecnicarton has a 2,800 square meter facility in Olerdola, Barcelona. However, this facility has become too small for our security requirements. The reduced size is not adequate to maintain a health and safety policy as demanding as that which prevails throughout the DS Smith group. That is why we have decided to move to a new environment in which to approach a 5-year growth plan based on safety, efficiency and growth with profitability.

In addition, the services we offer our customers demand more space every day. But fundamentally it is a bet and an investment in the safety and health of our team which, for us, is fundamental.

Question: What are the characteristics of the Tarragona plant and what markets does it want to cover?

Answer: Catalonia is the largest market in Spain. It contributes 20% of Spain's GDP and has an industrial network in which we find everything from petrochemicals to food companies, including all industrial sectors: automotive, components, capital goods, machinery... all sectors are represented in Catalonia.

With this scenario, Tecnicarton aspires to supply all those packaging products that we can contribute to the industry. Given that we are multisectorial, our catalogue of solutions, engineering, products and services can be applied to all types of industry. We have packaging in various materials, complex or simpler, returnable and single-use...

We can offer packaging for export, between production plants, plastics, metals, corrugated cardboard ... and everything with high performance and designed to meet the needs of any product.

Question: What is the importance of this plant in Tecnicarton as a whole?

Answer: The plant that Tecnicarton opened in Barcelona in 1997 was the first outside the Valencian territory from which the company originated. After the Ribarroja plant was opened, this was the next one. And it is logical if we take into account the economic data that we have commented before. The company's first customers were in the petrochemical sector, with large containers of corrugated cardboard with triple channels of high performance.

The evolution of Tecnicarton with the use of all types of materials made the plant evolve towards specialty packaging such as laminated cardboard, plastic packaging, protection and also services to customers in terms of JIT Logistics, in house activities, and full service supplies.

Question: Catalonia is a community with a high level of exports, what can Tecnicarton offer to the international industry?

Answer: The company as a whole offers high-performance packaging and we manufacture under national and international parameters and regulations, for the transport of products such as dangerous goods, ADR, for example.

Thanks to our R+D+i centre, we can respond to any packaging need in the industrial sector. In addition, we collaborate with the majority of technological centres and Spanish platforms related to packaging. Being able to subject our packaging to any test, simulation and regulatory tests.

Question: From a manufacturing point of view, does this plant have any technology that does not have another plant?

Answer: In the factory in Tarragona, before Barcelona, we have a laminating machine for the manufacture of laminated cardboard. This is an industrial speciality that allows us to superimpose layers of corrugated cardboard, up to 6 channels and obtain a six-fold cardboard. This superimposition gives the cardboard some physical-mechanical characteristics that allow the use of these packages where previously other materials such as wood or even metal were used. This substitution provides the client company with significant savings in logistics, recycling, occupational health and safety, among others.

From the Tarragona plant we supply the laminated cardboard to the other 9 plants of the Tecnicarton division.

Question: What has the integration of Tecnicarton into DS Smith meant for the Tarragona plant?

Answer: Tecnicarton is approved as a supplier in almost all car manufacturers in the European Union with a factory in Spain. And a good part of our clients are in the automotive sector. With the incorporation to DS Smith what we have obtained is a series of synergies with these clients to operate in all Europe. Thanks to DS Smith's pan-European presence, we can access decision centres that are not always in Spain.

Question: Let's go a bit to the data of the new plant. Can you tell us what growth objectives there are for the coming years and what investments have been made?

Answer: We have made significant investments in optimizing and improving the efficiency and productivity of current processes. We have invested in the renewal of equipment, peripherals, expansion of the processes of conversion into laminate, printing, automation. The objective is to improve productivity by 20% in cardboard conversion.

We have invested in Lean Manufacturing programs and workshops and also in the standardization of manual processes for complex assemblies that require interaction between people and devices, above all to improve the ergonomics of our employees and the efficiency of processes where manual efforts were required.

Question: What volume of business does this plant bring to the company as a whole?

Answer: This plant contributes approximately 10% of Tecnicarton's business. However, the growth plan we have drawn up takes us to 20% per year, so we expect to significantly increase our contribution to the company as a whole.

Question: And how do you plan to achieve that growth?

Answer: Well, by working "better than competitors".