Reputation on the line

28 March 2011



Modular lines and robotic feeders are upholding reputations and providing flexibility in the cosmetics and perfumes industry, reports Lynda Searby.


The cosmetics and perfumery industry is all about image and reputation. Projecting the right image can be achieved through celebrity fronted ad campaigns, but safeguarding a brand’s reputation requires product to be unvarying in quality, cleanly filled and perfectly packaged.

Packaging equipment plays a distinctly unglamorous but very necessary role in ensuring the reality lives up to the glossy ad campaign. It’s not an easy role to fulfil - equipment manufacturers have to balance the requirement for consistently beautiful products with production demands for high speeds, fast changeovers and maximum flexibility.

Indeed, according to the Optima Group’s Consumer division, which manufactures equipment for the cosmetics industry under its Kugler brand, flexibility is seen as the biggest challenge today in filling and packaging equipment for cosmetics.

“This is the consequence of a very marketing driven industry with lots of new product launches” a spokesperson told Packaging Today. “The styles and shapes of the bottles and jars are completely creative. Therefore, the machinery has to be able to handle all kinds of different containers. In addition to that, format changeovers must be carried out in a very short time.”

Optima claims the Kugler Moduline is considered to be the most flexible cosmetic filling and packaging system on the market today, owing to its modular design.

“Each module can be positioned within the transport system as required. Function modules can be easily added or removed, and overall performance can be flexibly adjusted to market requirements,” explains the company.

Since its launch at the end of 2009, the Moduline has been expanded with several new functions in response to requests from industry. For example, it is now possible to fill mascara, insert brushes or pumps into the containers or label the bottom of containers with the Moduline system.

The Moduline is also available with an RFID system for a completely automated format changeover, as Optima explains: “A transport container, the so-called puck, is equipped with an RFID chip. This chip relays the relevant data for an order to the respective functional module. Application of this RFID system supports the setting, transmitting and triggering of all other relevant parameters, such as filling volume, closure type, torque, assembly and controlling functions, labelling, etc.

For the first time, changeover does not require manual or screen intervention. Tiny batches and even single customised products and packages can be produced.”

Feeling the squeeze

There is no doubt that French, Italian and German equipment manufacturers are being squeezed from all sides on cost. On one front, for example, they are fending off intensifying competition from cheaper Far Eastern machines.

One Far Eastern manufacturer that is proving a formidable opponent is Korean firm Woojung, represented in Europe by Logic TPS.

“Woojung has already knocked the German and Italian machinery manufacturers for six with the price and speed of its machines,” says Keith Gooch, Managing Director of Logic TPS.

Its lipstick machines cost around US$300,000 each, and use new technology which uses silicon rubber moulds that are cheaper to produce and give a better finish than traditional metal moulds, according to Mr Gooch.

The same machine can be used to fill several different products, for example, creams, nail varnish, lip balms and mascaras. “Companies tend to use the same base frame with several different filling stations on it,” says Mr Gooch. The exception to this is products like lipsticks, blushers and eye shadows, which require dedicated machines.

Another downwards price driver is the growing importance of emerging markets like South America, China and India, where demand is often for cheaper, entry level equipment.

“We have noted very strong development in the emerging markets as compared to Europe,” notes Victor Batista, Sales Director with French cosmetic equipment specialist PKB. “The changes in the market have naturally led us to develop a filling machine for the emerging markets.”

Entry level equipment

PKB’s EKO is an entry level machine which is mass-produced to keep costs low. It is said to offer great flexibility and versatility in the packaging of perfumes (bottles and samples), liquid cosmetics (shampoo, lotions, hair dyes, milks and roll-ons) and cosmetic creams (jars and mascara). Besides the emerging markets, PKB says it is also enjoying success in France, especially with contract packers and manufacturers dealing with short runs and many changeovers.

Other news from PKB includes the installation of a Synchro Jars machine at a ‘big name’ French cosmetics company. Synchro Jars fills jars of cosmetic creams of up to 250ml in volume, at speeds of up to 60/min, and with a changeover time of less than 10min.

Following the success of Synchro Jars, PKB has expanded the Synchro concept into mascara, launching Synchro Mascara. The first machine was designed for a Latin American company in a dual application configuration for mascara and lip gloss. It incorporated a heating circuit to maintain the temperature of the lip gloss.

Milan models the monoblock

Besides France and Germany, Italy is the third major hotbed of innovation in cosmetic and perfume packaging machinery, and Marchesini Group, through its Milan-based Tonazzi division, offers systems that compete directly with those of PKB.

For jar filling, Marchesini’s latest solution is the MV545 - a monoblock capable of filling and closing up to 70 jars/min. “This machine can be equipped with a range of options dedicated to this specific job, like rotation of the jars for the perfect distribution of difficult products or small jars, a cleaning (blowing and suction) device for cleaning jars before filling, a hot foil placing and sealing unit, an under-cap pick & place unit, a screw cap and press-on closing unit, a complete series of controls and feeding units based on jar type and the level of automation needed,” explains Ugo Tanfani, Product Manager with Marchesini Group.

For mascara filling/closing, the company offers two options: the MM55, an intermittent motion filling and capping unit for speeds of up to 60 packs/min, and the continuous motion Diamante for higher speeds of up to 120 packs/min.

Robots rise to flexibility challenge

Because Marchesini Group supplies complete packaging lines, it claims its competitive advantage lies in the integration of each machine and the use of robotic systems, which it says are of great help for feeding the wide range of shapes and pack formats the cosmetics industry demands.

The ;ine is designed to handle small capacity polyethylene tubes (2 - 5ml) with standard or conical caps at speeds of up to 140/min.

Marchesini also offers two other tube packaging line concepts: the Colibrì and the Millennium. The Colibrì is a monoblock based on a starwheel transportation system, which is suitable for filling and sealing metal, laminate and PE tubes at speeds of up to 80/min. The Millennium series is a linear line available in two models, the single-head 120 and the double-head 200, for respective speeds of up to 100 or 200 tubes/min.

The Millennium machines can be equipped with both metal and PE or laminate closing systems. The operator can change the closing system via the machine’s interface. Another benefit is that the loading and unloading of tubes is effected from the same side of the machine. “This leaves the wet part of machine completely free and accessible, making it possible to release and replace the entire group of parts in contact with product in less than two minutes,” says Mr Tanfani.

Filling by weight

According to French filling equipment manufacturer Serac, more and more cosmetic and personal care companies are turning to weight filling, owing to its ability to fill viscous liquids quickly and accurately.

“Besides offering the utmost reliability and precision, weight filling also prevents costly overfilling of expensive products and offers an accurate tracking system used during and at the end of filling,” explains Aymeric Vague, Marketing Manager of Serac’s industrial, perfume, beauty and health divisions.

Serac’s weigh filler is a rotary machine called the Métis, which is designed for the high speed filling of shampoos, shower gels and other cosmetics and personal care products. Users include Unilever, SC Johnson, Procter & Gamble, Yves Rocher, Avon and L’Oréal.

Serac says the machine’s ability to cleanly fill containers at speeds of up to 600 bottles/min with viscous products is down to the fact the container platform rises up and allows the pipe to penetrate inside the container neck.


The double-head Millennium 200 machine can fill up to 200 tubes/min. Millennium Optima claims the Kugler Moduline is the most flexible cosmetic packaging system on the market today, owing to its modular design. Optima Following the success of Synchro Jars, PKB has expanded the concept into mascara, launching Synchro Mascara. Synchro

Synchro Synchro
Optima Optima
Millennium Millennium


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