Philippe Ughetto, Arcade

First step for Arcade, the South American continent where it produces, since the beginning of this year, some of its technologies in Sao Paulo. Then will come the turn of Asia, with a new implantation to come.

Arcade is the company who invented in the mid-1980s, the famous ScentStrip®, a system, in theory so simple, consisting in partly applying fragrance on the flap of a sheet of paper using the microencapsulation technique. A fantastic promotional tool to release perfumes in the form of an insert in newspapers around the world was born!

In just a few years, the turnover of Arcade will explode. But engineers at the American firm had no intention of stopping there as they launched, over the following years, equally clever systems such as DisCover®, LiquaTouch®, Beautiseal®, Kiss-A-Peel®, LipSeal® and most recently ClearTouch™.

"Of course,” explains Philippe Ughetto, Senior Vice President International, "the more we find new products, the more people envy us! But it is very difficult to copy us on the register of quality."

Champions of full-service!

"We have become over the years the champions of full service. We are entrusted with the entire project. We take in charge, design of course, printing of the insert, the card or the sleeve, the sample manufacturing, the encapsulation and/or filling and, above all, the perfect positioning of the product on its medium. A medium which must also fully integrate itself in the manufacturing line of magazines worldwide and insure perfect product rendition." A real technical challenge where dozens of technical processes and manipulations come into play.

To achieve this, Arcade currently owns two plants in the United States, which together employ 270 people, and several industrial partners who, for Europe, are involved either in printing the medium, or in applying the final touch to the product (filling and/or labelling/positioning and finishing). Major customer markets are, the perfume industry and then the cosmetic/make-up industry.

"A expanding segment, of course," admits Philippe Ughetto, “but particularly challenging and competitive where we need to be constantly creative."

Latest idea which has emerged this year, the Interactive Sampling, a very clever system allowing perfume and cosmetic companies, through a dedicated website, to offer their customers the possibility to directly order via Internet samples of perfumes or cosmetic products. To be continued ...