With 30 factories and 18,000 employees worldwide, customers in more than 100 countries and a global turnover of about $ 6 billion in 2011, the MeadWestvaco (MWV) group is today one of the packaging world leaders. A strategic transformation for this group which was operating at first in the forest and paper industry, as 72% of its sales is currently generated by the packaging industry worldwide. Packaging operations are organized according to the key markets to serve: beauty & personal care, beverage, food packaging, healthcare, home & garden, tobacco, etc.
Double the sales in the five years to come
For the beauty and personal care market, MWV offers both complete solutions in primary packaging (in particular distribution systems for cosmetics and perfumes, airless, aerosols, etc.) and in secondary packaging such as folding boxes, cases, with all the relevant decoration techniques. In this market, the group has set a target to achieve US$ 1 billion in sales within five years, which implies a large industrial and commercial deployment in the world. In practice this will mean gaining significant market share and, probably, seizing all relevant external growth opportunities in the future.
"We will make significant investments, but by targeting our innovations the closest possible to the needs of our customers. Nowadays the complete development of a pump represents an investment of more than 10 million euros. Which means we must know perfectly well the consumer habits and expectations," explained Laurent Bourgoin, Europe and Middle East Sales Director.
In 2011, the beauty & personal care activity increased by 6%, with a double-digit growth for airless and foamers driven by the development of natural products, the lesser use of preservatives, research for an optimum product restitution and of adapted doses.
For cosmetics, MWV has heavily invested in the development of pumps containing no metal parts, to make recycling easier but to also improve the compatibility with formulas and reduce allergy risks.
In the fragrance market, after a record 2010 year, in particular thanks to the success of One Million by Paco Rabane, MWV has continued to gain market share and now has approximately 500 customers in Europe, with more than 300 million pumps sold in 2011.
A new production line for the Melodie pump
The doubling of the production capacity for the Melodie pump at the beginning of the month in the Barcelona plant, is emblematic of the group’s current success and of its ambitions in the cosmetic and perfume market.
"Since its launch in 2005, the Melodie pump, one of the most discreet and smallest pump on the marketplace, was so successful among luxury perfume brands that it had become crucial to increase our production capacity," explained Sandy Gregory, Marketing Director for the Fragrance Division at MWV.
It’s an investment of several million euros that was earmarked in 2011, not only to modernize the injection tool, but also for the installation of the best multi-cavity moulds in their category and of even more automated and faster assembly chains. In addition to an increase in production, this cutting edge equipment should also contribute - together with a whole range of other measures - to the unit’s significant reduction in CO2 emissions.
Overall, the Barcelona factory (an industrial site of 9,172 sqm, on a land of 12,309 sqm with 250 employees), the core of the group’s centre of excellence for perfumes, was upgraded to comply with the best industrial standards : ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 22716 (for Cosmetic Good Manufacturing Practices). Quite enough to offer all the guarantees of quality to particularly demanding customers.
And as good news never come alone, MWV was pleased to learn that recently the State Intellectual Property Office of the People’s Republic of China had approved the patent application on its distribution system using dip tubes made of fluoropolymer (such as NOC), which, through differences in light refraction becomes almost invisible to the eye in a perfume juice. In addition to China, this patent was also approved in the United States, Mexico and Russia. An additional argument to attract luxury brands, obviously eager to preserve the elegance and refinement of their bottles.
