PETpla.net Insider 07+08 / 2019

INSPECTION 30 PET planet Insider Vol. 19 No. 07+08/19 www.petpla.net Acti Pack’s approach to production and supply of high-end containers Exceeding expectations Acti Pack PET Packaging, based in Andrézieux- Bouthéon, Auvergne-Rhône- Alpes, France, specialises in premium containers particularly for food, cosmetics, and health and beauty products markets. It is a subsidiary of Groupe Axium, which is comprised of five ISO9001 certified plants serving the European packaging market. Acti Pack itself was founded in 1992 and focused on the production of PET jars and bottles. In the years since its foundation it has expanded its European operations to include three plants; the main plant and head- quarters in France; Acti Pack Czech, which opened in 2000 in the Czech Republic; and KKT Germany, which was acquired in 2016. Each plant has its own speciality but, overall, the Acti Pack plants are all engaged in the production of high-end PET jars and bottles, using the stretch blow- moulding process. Two other plants within the Axium organisation – Loire Plastics Industrie and LAPAC – supply caps and closures that complement Acti Pack containers, alongside their own range of injected packaging. Acti Pack claims to differentiate itself by its ability to provide a total package to its customers. While some manufacturers are dedicated to bottle production and others focus on clo- sures, Acti Pack provides design and production of both container and clo- sure and is able to incorporate innova- tive design and labelling solutions. “We propose a standard or cus- tomised closure for every bottle and jar in a complete package solution,” Acti Pack Management and Export Assistant, Corinne Reynaud-Rival, explained. As part of this complete solution, the company prides itself on high standards of quality and an agile approach to production. Meeting quality demands Given its location, it is not an acci- dent that the list of Acti Pack’s major customers includes giants of the cos- metic and personal care industry. “These customers are very demand- ing about quality,” said Sandra Maillet, Head of Operations. “They continually push for higher precision and tighter tol- erances on the containers we produce.” Keeping demanding customers means that Acti Pack must produce containers that not only meet, but exceed quality expectations. In order to ensure exceptional product quality, strict quality standards and procedures have been put in place throughout production. However, in order to fully achieve their goals, the quality team determined that it was necessary to procure a quality man- agement tool that would provide very precise dimensional measurements. This tool would be used to support production, verify dimensional accuracy and confirm that their products fully met customer specifications. This is where the Gawis system from Agr came into play. Sandra Maillet explained that the quest for a measurement device started several years ago. She and her team visited an exhibition and met with several measurement equipment vendors but none of them fully met their needs. That is when they turned to Agr and the Gawis measurement system. As well as confirming dimensional accuracy, they also needed to meas- ure material distribution or thickness, at many points on the container - typically a very time-consuming job when performed manually. The Gawis system can perform comprehensive non-contact material distribution measurement and profiling as well as dimensional gauging of the body and finish of a container, with high accuracy and repeatability, all in a single operation. It has the flexibility to perform very simple measurements for basic quality management work or very detailed combinations of dimen- sional and thickness measurements to aid in the design and qualification processes. As part of the machine evaluation process, Sandra provided Agr with a wide array of samples with defects and examples of the attributes that Acti Pack PET Packaging specialises in premium containers with a focus on cosmetics, health and beauty products. Acti Pack PET Packaging is based in Andrézieux-Bouthéon, in the French Region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. INSPECTION