December 19, 2007
· Number 25
MARKET TREND: European Tube Industry Continues to Gain Ground in Traditional and Novel CategoriesFollowing its record year in 2006, the European tube market has remained on the growth track in 2007. In the first half of the year, the industry's shipments rose by about four percent to a total of 5.3 billion aluminum, plastic, and laminate tubes.
There are a multitude of reasons for the full order books in the sector. On the one hand, demand is fueled by the customers' numerous relaunches coupled with ever shorter product life cycles. On the other hand, tubes are replacing bottles, dispensers, and other packaging in industries such as cosmetics, body care products and food. Successful examples of these substitution shifts are body lotion and shampoo—as well as herbal butter—from a tube. The industry continues working busily to develop new markets for tube packaging.
There is a definite trend towards tubes with increasingly high-grade features; not just for cosmetics and dental care products, but also in the pharmaceuticals industry. These are the three key sectors for the tube industry, accounting for about 85% of total business. The pharmaceuticals industry is also opting for increasingly elaborate tubes for its non-prescription over-the-counter products to motivate customers to buy its products.
The European tube industry has full order books and is making excellent use of production capacity. As a result, delivery times for certain types of tubes and specifications may be as long as 20 weeks. Expecting continued healthy demand in the years ahead, the industry is responding to the current positive cyclical trend by investing in expansion.
Ever shorter product life cycles and relatively small batches are forcing tube producers to adapt flexible production approaches that are increasingly complex. Add to all this the pressures on margins from rising raw material, energy and transport costs and it is no wonder that leading European tube manufacturers say that profits have to improve if the sector is to sustain its powers of investment and innovation in the future.
DESIGN: Sleever Achieves High Security and Impact for Président Cheese BrandPrésident, number one Camembert brand of the Lactalis group, is launching new packaging in total contrast to market trends in the form of a miniature cheese cover. The new packaging features a dome and a base, both of which are protected by Sleevercap®, designed by Sleever International.
The brand's challenge was to radically modernize the product's presentation by forgoing the traditional Camembert box. The aim was to gain market share among sporadic consumers such as young urbanites following a triple-edged appraisal. Firstly, the old-fashioned image of the traditional box among this target in the final count adds very little added value; secondly, the box is incapable of resolving the odor issue in fridges; and lastly, it offers no protection in stores against the all too frequent hands-on custom of “pressing” the cheese to check its maturity.
The new packaging had to be both state-of-the-art and eye-catching. The solution features a dome whose top is closed by a controlled permeability film, making it possible for the cheese to mature while controlling odors and extend shelf life. Sleevercap® enhances this unusual packaging shape by providing protection capable of faithful 360-degree reproduction of the brand's graphic colors and codes.
This packaging also prevents consumers from feeling or squeezing the product in the store. Its opening system is comprised of a double micro-perforation with a half-moon tab. Two slight notches at the top of the perforation ensure easy opening once the product is ready for consumption.
To produce Sleevercap®, Sleever International opted for an SI-OPS-TF/060 film devised by Sleever Technologies with 7-color UV flexo printing. The third segment of this project called upon very high precision positioning and shrinking operations, as the wide diameter/low height conundrum can be difficult to manage at high speeds of up to 120 products per minute. This constraint was overcome by the latest generation of Powersleeve Evolution 4 multiple servomotor technology equipment designed by Sleever Machines. Combined with an infrared/hot air Powerskinner, it guarantees sufficiently slow shrinkage to ensure the film's perfect fit.
STRUCTURE: Continental's Twist Pen Applicator Opens Up Tube and Jar OptionsWith a few twists at the bottom of the pen, the “mini shelf” technology pushes product up toward the inside of the applicator. This offers an innovative way to apply product.
Two different applicator heads are available—brush or pad. Consumers will likely welcome this imaginative packaging into their daily grooming routine. The twist pen applicator is made by Continental Packaging Solutions, a leading turnkey packaging solution provider headquartered in Chicago.
COMPONENT: MeadWestvaco Calmar Announces European
Bi-Injected Soft Touch™ TriggersBeginning in the first quarter of 2008, Calmar's Hemer, Germany, manufacturing facility will start offering this new Soft Touch™ design for the industry-leading TS800 trigger sprayer. The design and subsequent industrialization were brought about by the European market's high demand for innovative and visual packaging.
Bi-injected triggers provide two-color combinations delivering a strong visual impact. The Soft Touch™ effect, brought about by the use of a rubber-like material, increases consumer comfort, which can also drive more frequent usage.
Heiko Kresse, European marketing manager for MeadWestvaco Calmar, says: “There is a strong global demand for high-impact packaging features, and Calmar is constantly investing in our product lines to add value to our customers' brands.”
MATERIAL: EDV Packaging Provides the Perfect Cup for Davison's Fruit SnacksEDV Packaging has created an innovative cup for the new range of fruit compotes that the Northern Ireland company Davison Canners Ltd. has been marketing. The product can be eaten as a snack or as a dessert and has obtained a great acceptance among consumers.
EDV Packaging coextrudes and thermoforms the base material at its production plant in Barcelona, Spain, and has designed a modern, exclusive, and pragmatic container with a PP/EVOH/PP transparent structure. The precise combination of barriers guarantees excellent thermal stability through a robust sterilization process.
The product is stored at ambient temperature and has a 12-month shelf-life. The cup has been designed with smooth walls to allow consumers to use all the content. The quality and the characteristics of the plastic material make the cup 100% recyclable and its low weight and high resistance to breakage make it a safe and efficient package.
The cup has been hermetically thermosealed using a peelable lid with a high quality decorated sleeve. The injected lid includes a spork for consumers to eat the product at any place at any time. The final presentation is eye-catching from any side of the supermarket shelves and offers an ideal alternative to consumers looking for healthy high-quality products that are environmentally friendly.
SUSTAINABILITY: Essentials of Sustainable Packaging Curriculum to Launch in January 2008The Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC) and the Packaging Association of Canada (PAC) announce the release of their sustainable packaging curriculum: The Essentials of Sustainable Packaging. This program is a two-day introductory course to sustainable packaging that will be taught in locations across North America in 2008. The inaugural course will be held January 22-23, 2008, in Chicago, the heart of the packaging community.
"It is part of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition's educational mission to share key concepts, best practices, and strategies with the packaging community," said Anne Johnson, director of SPC. "Putting forward a curriculum that draws on the resources and knowledge that we have built within the SPC, complemented by the packaging expertise of PAC and SPC membership, is a natural extension for us."
The course is based on the SPC's "Definition of Sustainable Packaging,” which has been widely adopted by the packaging industry, and will combine lectures and discussion, relevant case studies, and interactive exercises. SPC and PAC have collaborated with two of North America's leading packaging authorities and academics to develop the course: Walter Soroka, author of Fundamentals of Packaging Technology, and Mike Richmond, co-founder of Packaging and Technology Integrated Solutions (PTIS) and Global Sustainability Solutions Inc. (GSSI). The course will be taught by a diverse team of professionals from the partner organizations.
To Register, click here.
Download the course brochure here.
Visit PAC here.
CCL Tube Continues to Lead with New Post-Consumer Resin TubeLos Angeles CCL Tube, a division of CCL Industries, announced it has upgraded its industry-leading Post-Consumer Resin (PCR) tube. Through strenuous engineering and testing the company has increased the amount of post-consumer resin used in the sleeve and commercialized the use of post-consumer resin in the head of the tube—an industry first.
CCL Tube has manufactured post-consumer resin tubes since 2001. Group vice president Hermann Riedlsperger explains that today CCL can manufacture tubes with up to 70% post-consumer resin in the tube sleeve. In addition, CCL is the first and only tube manufacturing capable of using post-consumer resin in the tube head. In production today, CCL can load up to 60% post-consumer resin into the tube head and 70% in the tube sleeve.
Andy Iseli, CCL-Los Angeles general manager explains: "A three-layer extrusion process isolates the PCR layer in the middle layer, preventing contact with the tube's contents, thus eliminating the possibility of contamination and allows for high-end decoration on the outer layer. By using multi-layer extrusion, more marketers are able to use this tube; especially those whose products might interact adversely with recycled materials."
Seaquist Closures Green Team Leads Environmental InitiativesSeaquist Closures is one of the first companies in the closure industry to initiate a Sustainability Team dedicated to increasing its focus on environmental sustainability issues, according to Anne Stecker, food market manager. The team is the result of a larger effort by Seaquist Closures' parent company Aptar Group to create a corporate-wide Green Initiative. The company has created six such teams across its divisions in the U.S.
Stecker noted that environmental sustainability is a growing focus for companies across the country spurred by political action groups, increasing oil prices, and climate change concerns. Seaquist Closures is working with its customers to not only meet the Wal-Mart “scorecard” requirements, but to create unique initiatives of their own.
Seaquist Closures' pour spout line is an example of its most recent green efforts. The company's latest new product, the Ultra Pour Spout®, boasts the industry's lightest part weights in its category. This design is currently available in both 33-400 and 38-400 sizes. In addition, they've also created two of the lightest invertable closures in the industry. These new 2-1/8” closure designs include the Lock-Back Lid and Ribbed Snap Top.
ANNOUNCEMENTS: Burgopak and Bosch Sigpack Systems Receive WPO AwardBosch Sigpack Systems, a Bosch Packaging Technology company, received the prestigious Packaging Award WorldStar 2007 from the World Packaging Organization for its packaging concept Burgopak. The new packaging style Burgopak with patented sliding mechanism was selected as having one of the best pharmaceutical packaging formats.
Besides pharmaceutical products, such as blister packs, the Burgopak is suitable for packaging chewing gums, hard candy or consumer goods in various format sizes, including CDs, DVDs, or SIM cards. "We are very proud about this award," says Andreas Graf, system integration manager at Bosch Sigpack Systems. "In fierce competition for consumer attention, the Burgopak differentiates against competitive products thanks to its unique and user-friendly slide mechanism."
"The WorldStar 2007 reflects the positive feedback from the market for Burgopak," says Burgo Watson, the concept's inventor and fellow partner in the London-based design agency with the same name. "Until now we produced more than 15 million packages manually. We are looking forward to the introduction in the UK market of the first continuous Burgopak packaging machine in the first term of 2008."
2007 Wally Award Winners Celebrate Creative DesignThe three Wally Award winners were chosen from over 120 submissions of projects created on YUPO ranging from brochures, labels and menus to posters, maps and watercolor paintings. The winners include a menu cover, brochure, and guidebook which best showcased the unique attributes of YUPO® synthetic paper and exemplified creativity, originality, and functionality.
The winning entries are featured on www.yca.yupo.com and www.wallyawards.com. “The judges really had their work cut out for them this year,” says Martin Fiorillo, vice president, marketing and distribution sales, Yupo Corporation America. “We had twice the number of entries than we did last year and that many more outstanding designs.”
One of the Wally Awards was given to Sandra Schler of AJ Images Inc. for Series of Coordinated Menu Covers. The company's client—a new, high-end restaurant—wanted to produce a series of individual menu covers for lunch, brunch, dinner, dessert, lounge, cocktails, and the check presentation folder. The designer was tasked with creating covers that were elegant yet substantial in weight and durable enough to withstand constant handling.
YUPO synthetic paper cover stock (Grade FIG350) was chosen for its tear and stain resistant qualities, which make it perfect for a food and beverage environment. It's smooth, bright white surface allowed the beautiful photography to stand out. The restaurant owners also have the flexibility to change the menus regularly without having to replace the entire piece. Interior cover die-cuts create a place hold for the printed menu which can be inserted and changed as quickly as it takes to print on a home printer. See the other winners at www.wallyawards.com.
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COMPASS is an online software tool for packaging designers and engineers to compare the environmental impacts of their package designs.