Automated 3D packaging design earns DS Smith Tecnicarton the 2026 GoldPack Award

Engineering efficiency in bespoke packaging

Custom industrial packaging design has historically been a technical bottleneck. Every specific client requirement traditionally demanded hours of engineering, testing, and manual adjustments. However, the shift toward automated workflows is now a tangible reality in 2026. DS Smith Tecnicarton has just validated this industry trend by winning the 2026 GoldPack Award for Best Digitalization Project, an honor granted by the Cluster de Innovación en Envase y Embalaje that highlights a profound operational shift in how high-performance solutions are conceived.

This recognition does not reward an abstract concept, but a highly functional operational tool: a digital configurator that automates 3D design based directly on customer specifications. To date, this system has generated over 2,000 packaging models completely automatically. Technical designers Alejandro Ingresa and Gabriel Giménez collected the award on behalf of the company, putting into perspective the level of digital maturity the corrugated cardboard and multi-material packaging sector is currently reaching.

From technical specs to commercial proposals in minutes

What makes this development highly relevant for the converting industry is not just the three-dimensional rendering, but the seamless integration of data workflows. The platform developed by DS Smith Tecnicarton, a company integrated into the International Paper structure, does not merely draw; it simultaneously generates technical documentation and commercial proposals. This concurrent approach directly tackles three historical pain points in the sector:

• Drastic reduction in development times: The transition from the initial briefing to the virtual prototype is compressed, allowing for agile responses in complex industrial tenders.
• Minimization of structural errors: By relying on pre-configured parameters and automated calculations, the margin for human error in planimetry virtually disappears.
• Optimization of engineering resources: It frees technical talent from repetitive drafting tasks, allowing them to focus on solving atypical structural challenges.

Bespoke industrial packaging, particularly for critical sectors such as automotive or metal mechanics, frequently requires the integration of multiple materials: heavy-duty corrugated board, technical foams, wood, and plastics. Coordinating the tolerances of these disparate elements in a manual design process is highly prone to misalignment. The configurator recognized by the Cluster de Innovación en Envase y Embalaje eliminates this friction, ensuring that the schematics for all components fit together with millimeter precision before the first sheet of board is even cut.

This technological leap is part of a sustained growth strategy by the company, which was recognized at these same awards last year for its international expansion in North Africa, specifically its plant in Kenitra, Morocco. The ability to standardize design through digital tools is precisely a key enabler for maintaining technical consistency across multi-country operations.

The next frontier: full ERP integration

The true value of industrial digitalization in 2026 lies not in isolated software tools, but in connected ecosystems. DS Smith Tecnicarton's immediate goal is to integrate this configurator directly with its corporate ERP. This means the process will flow without manual intervention from the initial quote to the manufacturing order for the prototype on the plant floor. For manufacturers of machinery and capital goods—the primary buyers of this type of heavy-duty packaging—this translates into a much more predictable and transparent supply chain.

The digitalization of industrial design proves that innovation in the packaging sector is not exclusively limited to materials science or fiber sustainability. Efficiency in pre-production processes is exactly where operating margins and B2B customer loyalty are currently being won.

DS Smith Tecnicarton's ability to transform a traditional engineering process into an automated data flow sets a benchmark that other industrial converters will have to match if they want to remain competitive. Are we approaching the point where industrial clients will design and validate their own complex packaging through self-service portals without interacting with an engineer until the production phase? Follow The Paper for daily news, market signals and key updates from the global paper, corrugated and packaging industry. — Sigue toda la actualidad del sector en www.thepaper.ai