Based in Mannheim, Germany, Lichtenberger Verpackungen is a family-owned corrugated packaging converter with a rich history spanning over 70 years. Since its founding, the company has evolved from a traditional paper converting business into a modern, high-tech corrugated packaging manufacturer. This longevity is rooted in a philosophy that blends traditional craftsmanship with continuous innovation.
Over the decades, Lichtenberger Verpackungen has expanded its footprint significantly, now operating across 20,000 sqm of production and storage space, converting approximately 40 million sqm of corrugated board annually. The company employs 150 people currently.
Today, Lichtenberger Verpackungen distinguishes itself through a ‘Full Service’ approach that covers the entire lifecycle of a corrugated box – from initial concept to final delivery. Their core expertise lies in three specific areas:
- In-house development: the company maintains its own development department where designers use advanced CAD software and large-scale digital cutting tables to create samples and short run bespoke packaging. They offer 3D online previews for customer approval and produce physical samples in their prototype workshop to ensure functional integrity.
- Specialised manufacturing: their technical capabilities are vast, ranging from standard folding boxes to high-complexity ‘functional packaging’ – a discipline they refer to as the ‘supreme discipline’ of shipping. They are experts in die-cutting, creasing, perforating and printing, transforming simple cardboard into branded, protective assets.
- Logistics and supply chain: Lichtenberger Verpackungen operates its own fleet of trucks and a logistics centre. This allows them to offer Just-in-Time delivery, ensuring that customers receive their packaging exactly when needed. Interestingly, the company claims their fleet of trucks travel over 750,000 km a year to service their customer base.
Industries Served
Lichtenberger Verpackungen serves a diverse array of sectors – usually within 250km of the factory – providing solutions for any industry that requires the secure transport or premium presentation of goods. Their customer base ranges from small businesses needing low-volume, standard orders to major industrial players requiring complex, multi-component protection. They also offer stock and serve for customers, and logistics is a key part of the overall offering.
They are a key partner for the e-commerce and shipping sectors, notably as a provider of the Original ColomPac® brand, which features integrated self-sealing and tear-strip technology. Furthermore, they cater to industries with sensitive technical components, creating custom interior structures made of cardboard, corrugated board, or foam to safeguard fragile items. Thanks to a strong commitment to sustainability, they are increasingly coming to the attention of environmentally conscious brands across Germany and further afield.
Latest Investment
In a move to further enhance its rapid reaction time to market demands, the company recently commissioned a BX Motion Pro, the high performance short run boxmaking line from KOLBUS Group.
“We own a box maker that’s almost 50 years old and is starting to show its age. At the same time, we have a large volume of orders in this segment,” explains Steffen Tamm, CEO, Lichtenberger Verpackungen. “That’s why we started to assess the market and looked for alternatives. We got to know Kolbus at a trade show, stayed in touch, met up again and at some point, a new generation of boxmakers was released which caught our attention,” continues Steffen Tamm. “After our decision for Kolbus as our supplier, the phase from signing the contract to project completion was characterised by a strong partnership.”
He adds, “In retrospect, there was an absolute focus on solutions. Certainly, there are new features in the machine that didn’t exist before. The result is a high performance machine that meets our requirements.”
The BX Motion Pro can be specified with both fully automated product infeed and delivery. This is designed to enable full pallets of board to be automatically processed with no manual intervention. The solution requires ‘in floor’ pallet lifts to ensure pallets of board can be quickly placed in position for feeding and removed after processing through the line, which is raised from floor level to allow maximum pallet height processing.
The Kolbus Auto Feed incorporates a precision alignment section as the first process within the BX Motion Pro, ensuring the board is in the exact position for precise production, sheet after sheet. The delivery system utilises a dual gripper design to ensure production speed is not limited, providing accurate stacking, even on the largest products.
Lichtenberger Verpackungen is using the machine mostly for the production of pallet boxes with glue application – and with the pushers in the stacker, the boxes are ready to ship when they come out of the machine.
Ongoing Support
“Regarding Kolbus’s service, there was always someone we could call. During the critical phases like setting-up the machine or start of production, there were always experts on-site to assist or who supported us remotely,“ remembers Steffen Tamm.
He adds, “The machine will play an important role in our future, because we have an interesting work mix. We’re currently seeing upcoming regulations that set new requirements on labelling our products, for example the PPWR.”
“This is a solid investment for us. We’ve managed to go from two-person operation to an one-person operation while doubling our output,” concludes Steffen Tamm. “You can definitely say it has been a success story for us. We have chosen the digital printing function as well as the glue application and we still have the option to expand further. This shows the modularity of the machine and we can adapt to customer requirements in the upcoming years. We can install further print heads and add further modules. Summed up, we have a machine that is able to grow with our needs. That’s the reason we feel well taken care of by Kolbus.”
As part of the company’s ongoing investment plans, the owners and senior management team were able to celebrate the official groundbreaking for the building of the new logistics centre at its facility in Mannheim in May 2026.
Left to right: Michael R. Bach (KOLBUS) and Steffen Tamm (Lichtenberger).
