Albea announced the opening in 2014 of a new production site dedicated to mascara and lip gloss applicators in Bottanuco (Italy), as well as a new production site for tubes and caps in Argonne (France).

The result of the integration of two Italian sites located near Milan (Verderio and Imbersago), the new Bottanuco mascara facility - also a short drive from Milan - will have a production area of 13,000m2 and warehouse capacity of 3,000m2. Warehousing, tooling, injection, extrusion, and blow moulding, decoration and assembly, thermal varnishing, UV lacquering and metallization will all be thoroughly integrated. The facility will be home to a dedicated brush development section, as well as a comprehensive brush library with both fibre and plastic brushes.

The total investment is about 6 million euros.

The aim is to be more customer’ oriented in proposing innovation in reactivity on samples,” explains the packaging supplier. “The creation of a single, integrated site will further enhance efficiencies, deliver a wider range of value added services, and encourage the supplier-customer interaction.

The group also invests 22 million euros in new factory in Argonne, in north-eastern France.

Albéa Tubes France new production site incorporates the production of the two previous sites in the area, St. Menéhould and Vienne Le Chateau. The new 23,000 m2 Argonne facility represents a cutting-edge growth platform with the technology and operational efficiencies to handle all future customer needs.

The facility will include four primary areas of production: caps, laminate tubes, small diameter plastic tubes, and premium plastic tubes for the prestige market. An integrated Pre-Press Printing lab will allow customer input into the set-up of tube decoration and colour, prior to manufacture.

The 600-employee Argonne site will be one of the world’s largest tube manufacturing plants and should enable the company to maintain its leadership position in tubes.

Albéa projects that tube and cap production will reach 1 billion each, per year.