Sparck Technologies celebrates 100 years of innovation

On June 20, the specialist in high-performance automated tailor-made packaging systems for e-commerce will celebrate a century of engineering and innovation. Inventor of the world's first automatic shoe making machine, Sparck Technologies owes its longevity to its ability to reinvent itself. Chronicle of a Dutch company with a surprising journey.

The story of Sparck Technologies began in 1924 in the town of Drachten (45,000 inhabitants), in the North of the Netherlands. From its beginnings, the Dutch engineering company then known as “HaDeWe” – the acronym of founder Heert de Wit – quickly demonstrated ingenuity. She is the author and inventor of the first automated wooden clog production machine in the world (photo opposite). A small revolution for the time. Building on this successful experience, the company reinvented itself to focus on marketing mailroom solutions intended to increase the productivity of office workers. From 1936, it put several innovative machines on the market, capable of reproducing documents, folding papers, or even filling thousands of envelopes automatically. After various acquisitions of stakes in its capital, including the Compagnie Générale d'Électrcité in 1980 (future Alcatel), the history of HaDeWe took a new turn in 1992. The company joined the French group Neopost, which launched a machine in 1996 to fill envelopes of different formats. In 2000, HaDeWe changed its name to Neopost Industrie. It was in 2014 that the company moved from mail to packaging. It develops and introduces a fully automated machine to the market, thus taking its first steps in a growing e-commerce sector. When Neopost in turn changed its name in 2019 to become Quadient, the automatic packaging systems business then took the name Packaging by Quadient. In 2021, Quadient sold the business to private equity firm Standard Investment. Packaging by Quadient returns to the Dutch flag to become Sparck Technologies.

Multi-awarded 3D packaging technology

On June 20, Sparck Technologies will celebrate its hundredth anniversary. The specialist is present in 15 countries, in Europe and the United States, and employs 250 people. Its ambition: to make ecological packaging the standard in online commerce. Using 3D scanning technology to size, create and label tailor-made packaging, without unnecessary voids, Sparck Technologies has developed two high-performance systems, called CVP, capable of processing up to 1,100 packages per day (CVP Everest model ), while reducing shipping volume by 50% and the use of cardboard material by 30%. A technology that has earned engineering a multitude of awards around the world: the Innovation Award from the All4Pack trade show in 2016 in France, the International Prize from the English magazine Parcel and Postal Technology International in 2020, the Innovation Prize from American media Modern Materials Handling in 2021, or a packaging award in Germany in December 2023.

Innovation continues

Since then, Sparck Technologies has continued to innovate by enriching its CVP systems with new functionalities: high-speed printing on cardboard, the production of ultra-flat 28 mm packages for deliveries to letterboxes, and more recently auto-induction making it possible to streamline the transit of orders from the preparation station to packaging and shipping. More than 220 million tailor-made packages have been produced to date using Sparck packaging machines. From its production site, still based in the municipality of Drachten, the company serves an international market looking for more eco-responsible packaging, at the request of end consumers. Sparck Technologies counts leading players among its users. In France, Sparck equips the Cdiscount, King Cadeau, Biosynex and Valrhona brands in particular. A success that the Dutch company, formerly a manufacturer of clogs, owes to its capacity for innovation allowing it to constantly reinvent itself. So let’s wish him a happy birthday!

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