Combe Inc., White Plains, NY, maker of Vagisil® brand feminine hygiene products, had been marketing Vagisil deodorant powder in a 7-oz bottle. To improve its competitive position, the company wanted to offer an 8-oz size. Combe also was seeking to create a more feminine look for the package, as well as a solution to some powder-leakage incidents experienced with the original extrusion-molded high-density polyethylene (HDPE) container. (In the photo, the new 8-oz bottle is at right, offering a more feminine-looking design than the 7-oz bottle shown at left.)
As Combe's Senior Purchasing Director Dan Beauleau explains, “We encountered certain functional issues during distribution and handling, which we needed to resolve. These problems were due to an uncontrolled neck finish associated with extrusion molding.”
For more than 15 years, Pharma Tech Industries (PTI) had been blending and filling powder products for Combe, and the two companies had an excellent working relationship. PTI is a global contract manufacturer and packager of powder products and also has been blow-molding bottles for other powder products for more than 25 years. So PTI customer service representative Sarah Freeman suggested that Combe give PTI a chance to design and injection blow-mold the new Vagisil Deodorant Powder bottles.
One week, four designs
In one week's time, PTI Molding/Tooling Engineer Richard Wade came up with four bottle designs that conformed to Combe's general concept and addressed the functional issues Combe had expressed. Combe selected one, and then a three-dimensional model was made, followed by a prototype, and a custom mold. The new taller, tapered-waist containers are designed to provide a more distinctive, higher-profile appearance on the store shelf.
After an alteration of the inside volume of the container to allow better settling of the powder and some fine-tuning of the cap and seal, the new injection blow-molded HDPE, 8-oz bottle received Combe's final approval. The whole process took about six months.
Combe is pleased to have a single source responsible for the bottle molding, powder blending, and container filling, capping, and labeling, Beauleau says. PTI sources the two-piece sifter closures (whose inner piece is HDPE and outer portion is low-density polyethylene) from Rexam Plastic Packaging. The pressure-sensitive, opaque polyolefin film labels are printed by Labelad. Front labels are flexo-printed in five colors, and back labels use one color. The labels are applied with Model 35PW in-line labeling equipment from Accraply, a Barry-Wehmiller company.
“The new PTI injection blow-mold tooling provides a controlled neck finish that minimizes inadvertent powder leakage, while ensuring the sifter closure can be consistently engaged with ease,” Beauleau says. “In addition, the new bottles provide several other important benefits. The PTI package differentiates itself from the competition, provides a very visible shelf presence, contemporizes and reinvigorates the brand, and adds consumer value due to ease of use.”
-- By Judy Rice, Contributing Editor. From Contract Packaging magazine
As Combe's Senior Purchasing Director Dan Beauleau explains, “We encountered certain functional issues during distribution and handling, which we needed to resolve. These problems were due to an uncontrolled neck finish associated with extrusion molding.”
For more than 15 years, Pharma Tech Industries (PTI) had been blending and filling powder products for Combe, and the two companies had an excellent working relationship. PTI is a global contract manufacturer and packager of powder products and also has been blow-molding bottles for other powder products for more than 25 years. So PTI customer service representative Sarah Freeman suggested that Combe give PTI a chance to design and injection blow-mold the new Vagisil Deodorant Powder bottles.
One week, four designs
In one week's time, PTI Molding/Tooling Engineer Richard Wade came up with four bottle designs that conformed to Combe's general concept and addressed the functional issues Combe had expressed. Combe selected one, and then a three-dimensional model was made, followed by a prototype, and a custom mold. The new taller, tapered-waist containers are designed to provide a more distinctive, higher-profile appearance on the store shelf.
After an alteration of the inside volume of the container to allow better settling of the powder and some fine-tuning of the cap and seal, the new injection blow-molded HDPE, 8-oz bottle received Combe's final approval. The whole process took about six months.
Combe is pleased to have a single source responsible for the bottle molding, powder blending, and container filling, capping, and labeling, Beauleau says. PTI sources the two-piece sifter closures (whose inner piece is HDPE and outer portion is low-density polyethylene) from Rexam Plastic Packaging. The pressure-sensitive, opaque polyolefin film labels are printed by Labelad. Front labels are flexo-printed in five colors, and back labels use one color. The labels are applied with Model 35PW in-line labeling equipment from Accraply, a Barry-Wehmiller company.
“The new PTI injection blow-mold tooling provides a controlled neck finish that minimizes inadvertent powder leakage, while ensuring the sifter closure can be consistently engaged with ease,” Beauleau says. “In addition, the new bottles provide several other important benefits. The PTI package differentiates itself from the competition, provides a very visible shelf presence, contemporizes and reinvigorates the brand, and adds consumer value due to ease of use.”
-- By Judy Rice, Contributing Editor. From Contract Packaging magazine
