P&G cosmetics builds in versatility: three distinct packages for liquid makeup run on the same modular, expandable filling line

Food & Drug Packaging, Feb, 2005 by Lisa McTigue Pierce

Procter & Gamble Cosmetics as engineered and built a packaging line at its plant in Hunt Valley, Md., specifically for filling liquid makeup--both existing products and products that will be invented in the future.

Currently, P&G Cosmetics uses this line to package three products: CoverGirl's TruBlend Makeup in an airless pump package, CoverGirl's new Outlast Liquid Makeup in dual-container tottles and Max Factor's Colour Adapt Foundation in a similar pump package to TruBlend, but with a completely different style cap.

Gary Mitchell, principal researcher for global package development at Procter & Gamble Cosmetics, explains how the multi-tasking line was engineered. "When we originally built it, we intended the line to be versatile enough to be able to run a variety of liquid makeups and packaging shapes," Mitchell says. "We designed it for producing liquid makeups and future packaging. We have, of course, our idea of what future packaging is and we knew it at the time, so we built [the line] to accommodate the packages running now and 10 years into the future."

The idea is to design the line and the packages to be in synch. "You design your package to the manufacturing operation you have, but then you design an innovative manufacturing operation to accommodate a multitude of different packages."

To create a versatile packaging operation, P&G Cosmetics opted for equipment that was simple and modular.

For example, the line was initially set up to fill the CoverGirl TruBlend Makeup pump bottle. Recently, the company extended the line and added a second filler to handle the new CoverGirl Outlast Liquid Makeup in dual-container tottles, which was introduced in January 2005.

New formula, new fill process

This packaging operation was built from the TruBlend launch and is unique because of the product's unusual formulation.

The consistency and texture of TruBlend differentiates it from other products. It's formulated to be a silky, smooth foundation that blends away imperfections and evens out skin tone.

The product is force-fed from a bulk product silo and goes through a series of shearing tubes on its way to the filling nozzle.

"The formulation starts out at a high viscosity. It would be too thick when the consumer got it if we just handed it to them without running it through our filling operation. When it finally comes out of the package, it's at a viscosity that the consumer can use and enjoy," Mitchell says.

At the start of the line, pre-labeled pump bodies are manually loaded into pucks. They are filled through the bottom and sealed with a bottom piston. Fill accuracy was critical because the bottom piston vent must seat properly for the airless pump to work right. Mitchell admits that the standard deviation is "very low ... in fact, incredibly low."

The positive displacement Hibar filler indexes, four-up, at speeds of 80 packages per minute. To get a consistently accurate fill level, the viscosity and the nozzle diameters have to be just right. Plus, the piston must be placed precisely over the package and inserted to a certain depth. This is all servo controlled.

Complex shrink banding

Another challenge was the shrink banding operation for TruBlend. For tamper evidence, a full-body clear shrink band is cut to a length that allows it to wrap around the bottom lip of the pump body and extend to a designed height on the pump's cap. This bottom wrap was necessary because of the draft angles on the package.

The band goes under the pump body a minimum of 1/16 of an inch. In cooperation with its machinery supplier PDC Int'l, P&G Cosmetics modified the system to shrink the band below the container's bottom but without interfering with the bottle's stability. "When [the container] sat in a merchandising unit, we didn't want a wad of excess shrink band at the bottom preventing it from sitting properly," Mitchell says. "It was quite a challenge to drop a shrink band over the top of the pump and shrink it upwards." The line is also set up with a station for cartoning for flexibility in secondary packaging, too.

Hibar Systems Ltd. 905-731-2400; www.hibar.com

PDC Int'l Corp. 203-853-1516; www.pdc-corp.com

--Lisa McTigue Pierce, Editor-in-Chief