Gerresheimer’s new Decoration Centers

Gerresheimer’s factories in Tettau (Germany) and Momignies (Belgium) specialize in the industrial production of cosmetic glass and have been supplying no-table customers in the cosmetics industry for decades. At both sites, newly created, high-performance Decoration Centers use modern techniques to customize sophisticated branded products for the cosmetics market.
Customization is a key market trend in the cosmetics industry, particularly using primary packaging. In addition to the design of a bottle, decoration is playing an ever greater role. “We want to reduce the complexity for our customers,” says Bernd Hörauf, CEO of Gerresheimer in Tettau. He considers decoration to be anything that can be offered to customers as added value, alongside the classic areas such as screen printing, color spraying, acid etching, and pad printing. This is how he can minimize the total cost of manufacturing a cosmetic product and how the complexity of processes is reduced for customers throughout the value chain. Based on this school of thought, a brand-new overall concept has now been born at Gerresheimer’s cosmetics factories in Tettau and Momignies, which not only forms the Center of Excellence building block at both plants, but also illustrates the same production and process structure.
Connected process chains
For example, when it comes to a connected process chain in the context of screen printing, further process steps such as the use of plastic inserts in bottle necks can now be taken – and even in the same machine cycle, saving money and reducing outlay. Another example is the development of a labeling line which, in addition to standard applications such as dynamic carrier strip labeling, also enables special cases such as static labeling, i.e. labeling lying bottles in recessed areas. This is a truly measurable process improvement which would otherwise mean extreme delays on customers’ filling lines.
The next phases of expansion
Another concept has been developed which involves bonding bottles with a variety of materials, i.e. different applications and applying materials such as metal and wood straight onto glass bottles. This concept has already been put to the test. It involves a special combination of hotmelt and UV bonding and will be ready for production in the first half of 2019.