The Barcelona-headquartered beauty packaging manufacturer and provider is anticipating a strong rise in the demand for beauty packaging in Europe. The group is investing over EUR 6 million at its German manufacturing facilities (ex-Louvrette) in Kierspe.

According to Quadpack, skincare is predicted to grow 10% in 2022, with the ‘clean beauty’, haircare, and dermo-cosmetic segments driving the demand. In this context, the group anticipates the plant’s 2022 sales to increase in line with 2021, which was up 25% over the previous year.

Injection, assembly capacity

The EUR 6 million investment will go towards the expansion of the facility’s injection-moulding and assembly capacity.

Quadpack’s Kierspe plant is being expanded to meet increased demand, in particular for airless packaging.

The investment is dedicated to staff expansion, new moulds, and injection machines and assembly equipment optimised through Industry 4.0. A manufacturing enterprise system (MES) is being installed to improve lead times, efficiency and supply chain agility, while gaining greater control of manufacturing operations. The MES will connect to SAP S4/HANA Cloud in 2023 as part of the company’s digital transformation.

Note that Quadpack had already invested 2 million euros in 2021 in a high-speed production and decoration line at the Kierspe site.

Once complete, production capacity will grow across all popular product categories, with airless capacity receiving the biggest boost.

New decoration unit

Part of the investment is also intended for the creation of an in-hose decoration unit at Kierpse.

Thus, in complement to the acquisition of decoration specialist Stefan Wicklein Kunststoffveredelung GmbH in Steinbach am Wald in 2021, Quadpack will be able to offer specialist decoration services and know-how at both the Steinbach and Kierspe plants, where a 900m2 facility will be dedicated to decoration.

The integration of decoration capacities on the Kierspe site will also contribute to reduce transport costs and delays and therefore to accelerate time to market and decrease CO2 emissions.

“Already a reference in thick-walled PET injection, Quadpack aims to become an industry standard for sustainable manufacture and decoration,” said Quadpack COO Fabrice Revert.

Increased sustainability

To ensure sustainable production, Quadpack’s manufacturing facilities run on 100% renewable energy and operate a continuous programme to reduce waste. The Kierspe plant holds an EcoVadis Silver Medal and is ISCC-certified. SAN and SMMA production is being gradually shifted to PET and rPET for greater recyclability. Quadpack is also testing different innovative decoration techniques and working with ink, varnish and foil suppliers to research more sustainable materials.

“As the market recovers and environmental consciousness grows, there is greater demand for our ‘Made in Europe’ solutions. Our investment in Germany brings production closer to home for the majority of our client base. Our goal is always to improve our service to customers, while ensuring a positive impact on the planet,” added Revert.