Innovation, technology and industrial flexibility

Source: Food and Drink Digital

Date :9/26/2007 12:03:16 PM

Boxal, a leading global manufacturing of aerosol and beverage cans and bottles, speak about their success with Exec UK

Written by Rebecca Waters & Produced by Paul Radbourne

A division of the Exal Group, Boxal is one of the most technologically advanced aluminium and steel manufacturers in the world.

With an impressive annual capacity of almost 1.5 billion units per year the company has become the global leader in the manufacturing of aluminium aerosols and beverage bottles, supplying customers such as L’Oreal, Johnson & Johnson and Schwarzkopf & Henkel.

Founded in 1964 following the buying of the firm Fabrique d’ Eballages by Alusuisse, Boxal strives to deliver innovation, quality competitive pricing and overall excellence. And with obvious success; the company is the premier supplier to the beverage, healthcare and pharmaceutical markets, manufacturing monobloc aluminium and tin plate containers such as hairspray or deodorants as well as beers or soft and energy drinks.

Industrial flexibility

Boxal’s recent development of the aluminum beverage bottle is a winning solution to the beverage and liquids market as ready to drink beers, sodas, wines, spirits and oils. Ultra-light and shatterproof, the Boxal aluminium bottle offers total mobility and is fully recyclable. The can combines exceptional protective properties, a cutting-edge image, safeness and versatility.

With operating facilities in Europe as well as the USA and Argentina, the company can offer industrial availability and flexibility to efficiently meet customer requirements. Its three European sites alone - in France, Holland and Switzerland - have a combined annual output of some 900 million containers per year and more than 20 integrated production lines which provide power and flexibility.

Protecting the environment is paramount to Boxal. All of Boxal’s products are fully recyclable, with the use of aluminium representing a high-value renewable material. It also reduces transport costs and fuel consumption in the entire supply chain due to its light weight.

Quality control

Boxal places a strong emphasis on quality control and is committed to producing the highest level of product. This is utilized by its use of state of the art quality control procedures including three dimensional optical checks to monitor all key characteristics throughout the manufacturing process. Regular quality assurance training is also provided to committed team members.

In addition, all Boxal sites are ISO 9001 and 9002 certified and follow strict regulations regarding emissions in the environment. Each site operates state of the art casting equipment, making use of automation where possible in order to reduce labour costs.

Shape is one area that is highly crucial to the success of Boxal. Undertaking all aspects of the manufacturing and completion process, from the design stage to the printing and finish of the container, the innovation driven company uses the latest integrated design tools and efficient solutions with project teams working in conjunction with customers to

develop highly specialized shapes. This allows them to meet the changing demands of the markets, including size, capacity, pressure ratings and shoulder profile configurations.

Innovation

Until the last decade, Boxal was known as the chief manufacturer of aluminium cans, However, this changed with their launch of Newcan in 1997 - the world’s first two-piece tinplate aerosol can. With the launch of Newcan, Boxal was able to offer a cost-effective and aesthetically-pleasing can. Its unique can construction using tin-plated steel with a monobloc drawn and wall ironed body was seen to be one of the major innovations in aerosol cans of the last 30 years.

Following Newcan, Boxal now produces a wide range of fully recyclable aerosols in all standard sizes with the capabilities to produce more original designs including flat shoulder, round and rim shoulders, two-piece tin-plate aerosols and shaped aerosols. Its shaped aerosols are particularly innovative. Using aerosol-shaping techniques and the latest production technologies, Boxal’s aerosols can be shaped to make the containers easier to hold and handle with the further ability for them to be shaped to enable new accessories to be attached.

Following its success in the marketplace, Boxal's shaped aluminium bottle for Burn received the prestigious 2007 Starpack award for best creative pack. Starting from the very early design stages, the successful development is the result of close work between the Boxal and Burns teams. Its striking and innovative aluminium bottle with an extra long neck gives Burn greater product differentiation in the highly competitive energy drinks market, utilising advances in shaping and printing in order to enhance brand equity and create distinct communication. According to one judge, ‘the bottle represents true innovation’ and the shape ‘combines with superb print finish to present an all round winning pack.’

New ranges

As well as the Starpack success, Boxal will be the lead developer and supplier for a new deodorant range in aluminium cans following a large-scale makeover of the leading fragrance brand Axe by Unilever, international manufacturer of leading brands in foods, home care and personal care.

The two-year development involved Boxal’s commercial and technical teams together with Unilever packagers and designers to produce a shaped can profile. Boxal’s key technological support in shaping, industrialisation methods and production capacity enabled a smooth, successful market introduction. Produced at the Boxal plant, located at Veenendaal, the Netherlands these superior innovation cans are produced on dedicated production lines.

As well as the can designs themselves, the company also produces a range of finish options in addition to the initial coating choice of either shiny or matte over varnish to protect varnished containers. These include, brushed aluminium, soft-touch, pearlized, glitter and embossed.

The company also invests heavily in research and development, with a centre at its French office in Beaurepaire dedicated entirely to R&D.

In the future, Boxal aims to continue focusing on producing innovative cans. With the intention to improve the applications of its cans, the company is geared towards differentiation from a very standard product base. Its use of the latest production technolgies has allowed for recent innovations such as the Aluminium Can.

Moreover, it has allowed for the continuing development of their exclusive can making processes such as ‘C2C’ (Coil to Can) which can either make ultra-light aluminium aerosols and bottles at very high speed as well as provide full body shaping (thus providing creative and customised packaging).

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