Shiseido is one of the major actors on the international cosmetics industry scene. Shiseido International France has now chosen FlexLink for new installations in two of the plants, one for eight packaging lines for face creams and shampoos in the Loire valley and the other for four lines for perfumes at Ormes. Research & Development and Marketing are subject to very fast changes. The perfumes, creams, shampoos and other hair care products nowadays often have a short lifetime in form and original packages.

Lines quickly adapt to new conditions
“In this very dynamic cosmetics market, the time between the birth of a marketing concept and the massive launch onto the market can be shorter than one year”, says M. Blind, Industrial Development Engineer, Shiseido International France. Because of this, you have to invest in very flexible production lines, which can quickly be changed and adapted to new conditions now prevailing in the branch. 

Reuse of existing equipment
The aim for FlexLink’s technicians was to, wherever possible, reuse the existing equipment in the Gien plant. “Historically, FlexLink has already proven its capability at Shiseido”, says M. Douvesy, Technical Manager at Shiseido, Gien. FlexLink’s systems builder came up with a proposal for an installation that convinced us to re-equip our eight cosmetics lines.” 

Flexible filling lines
Each line is specialized to handle a family of products like the airless, tubes, small bottles, cans and other liquid packages. The differences between the product families relate essentially to the ways they are filled. The tubes and cans on the holders circulate before arriving at the manual stations for capping and receiving the finishing touch. The holders are shaped according to the container, thus ensuring versatility of the system.

Integrating different materials
The lines bring together a number of materials from various manufacturers, each with its own characteristics. FlexLink fulfils its role by providing the ideal link between the machines. The second Shiseido installation by FlexLink was made at Gien. Here, among others, Jean-Paul Gaultier perfumes for both the French market and export are made. All four perfume production lines before the palletizing are based on FlexLink. The lines are fully versatile and are equipped with special fillers. The bottles circulate in the holders before arriving at the manual stations for packaging and end control. 

Freeing up valuable floor space
The compact carousels allow an economical use of valuable space when the holders are transported back to the start of the conveyor. The stations for manual handling at the end of the line are necessary as the packages change, especially at holiday periods and festivals when special packages often are demanded. In this case FlexLink broad chain conveyor XB with lateral transport is most suitable. “As a matter of fact, we are thinking of installing a line designed completely for manual working stations, built up around an XB conveyor, to handle special-order products”, says M. Blind, Shiseido.