Beauty Packaging Giant Albea Real Beauty

11 Apr 2014

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Beauty packaging giant Albea is headquartered in France and operates 45 plants across 14 countries worldwide. A long history of packaging excellence for high end beauty brands has enabled the company to work with some of the world’s most recognized luxury names, including Dior, for which it helped create the new Rouge Dior lipstick, and Lancôme’s latest Visionaries range of skin care. Initially established when Alcan Packaging Beauty was formed following the acquisition by the Alcan Group of leading beauty packaging company Pechiney in 2004, the rapid development ever since has included key milestones such as the opening of a Brazilian plant to serve a major Unilever contract, the opening of a site in Russia in 2008 and the inauguration of the new facility in Argonne, France, in the autumn of 2013. Strategic growth Vice-president for Europe Laurent Villemin told Packaging Europe how this has helped mark the company’s growth. He said, “We have strategically grown our international footprint in order to support our key client’s own growth, with a particular focus on Eastern Europe where have identified a number of opportunities. have also expanded considerably in Asia and the US, with the acquisition of Tex China in 2012 to reinforce our position in the Asian market and also our acquisition of Eyelematic, a metal forming company in the US.” The latest investment in Argonne incorporates the production of two previous sites in the same area, St. Menéhould and Vienne Le Chateau. A 23,000m² facilities represents a cutting-edge growth platform with the technology and operational efficiencies to handle all future customer needs. The 600-employee site will be one of the world’s largest tube manufacturing plants and tube and cap production is projected to reach one billion units of each annually. “Argonne facilitates shorter delivery times than ever, coupled with the continued promise of innovative tube solutions,” said Mr Villemin.

“The investment also reflects our growing investment in new technologies and emphasizes our pre-eminence in the field.” The Argonne facility will cover production of caps, laminate tubes, small diameter plastic tubes and premium plastic tubes for the prestige market. An integrated Pre-Press Printing lab will also allow customer input into the set-up of tube decoration and color, prior to manufacture. One-stop shop With a comprehensive product portfolio that is carefully designed to deliver the exact packaging requirements of its most demanding customers, Albee’s unique business model is integral to its success. A ‘one-stop shopping supplier’ for all beauty and personal care products, Albee is dedicated to going beyond ‘packaging needs’ in order to ensure it adds value wherever possible. Mr Villemin explained, “Albee delivers a global dimension of performance, innovation and passion. Our products harness these qualities in order to provide our customers, and indeed their end users, with a packaging solution that enhances their experience of the product. Our comprehensive product portfolio has our global, transversal know-how integrated in-house to provide better quality and sheer ingenuity in beauty and personal care packaging.” The product range on offer from Albee includes pumps and dispensers, tubes, cosmetic packaging such as mascara, accessories such as make-up brushes and bags and promotional items. All based on the company’s four core areas of expertise – dispensing systems, tubes, cosmetic rigid packaging and beauty solutions – the result is a ‘value proposition’. Mr. Villemin said, “All of this expertise and technical know-how is combined with a passion for beauty. The value proposition create is a one-stop shopping universe that is unrivalled throughout our industry.” Albee’s products are utilized in four key market segments – cosmetics, skin care and personal care, fragrance and oral care. The world leader in packaging for lipstick, mascara, foam pumps and spray samplers, Albee’s strong market position is thanks to its quality, innovation and service.

Technical and creative Mr. Villemin told Packaging Europe how Albee’s cutting edge capabilities in injection and assembly work alongside its creative innovation. He said, “We have over 30 years of experience in developing and manufacturing lipstick and mascara packaging, so the world’s most famous beauty brands know they can trust us. have a global footprint that serves customers worldwide yet maintains a local knowledge that is unbeaten by our competitors. have some of the most advanced machinery available to manufacture our packaging in accordance with the exact requirements of our design team, who work closely with our customers so that their ideas are realized.” For dispensing systems, Albia’s expertise delivers everything from fine mist to foam pumps, from mini products to atmospheric lotion dispensers. The company developed a sustainable alternative to aerosols with Panache Plus, part of its breakthrough Panache programmed, and it pioneered the one-touch, mechanical foamers that are used worldwide. Albee is also a global leader in plastic and laminate tube manufacturing. It provides precise efficiency; reliability and control thanks to its five decades of experience in this field, with screw-on and flip-top caps and a range of face and body applicators. Metal decoration represents an important part of Albia’s offer, with a full spectrum of decoration techniques delivering added value to its customers. Mr Villemin commented, “Advanced metal expertise is critical to the success of prestige products and our excellent surface treatment and decoration capabilities are all under one roof – from galvanization to UV lacquering, silk screening to hot-stamping.” With a strong focus on operational excellence and a long-term commitment to sustainability, Me Villemin is clear that Albee is expecting on-going success in the future.

Source: Albea-Group