As part of a complete factory upgrade, Stölzle Flaconnage's decoration facility has been transformed. This key investment has included the installation of new automatic, state-of-the-art spraying machines together with in line multi-colour automatic screen printing; as a result, the factory has expanded by over 50%. The new machines offer exciting decoration possibilities. Automatic acid etching achieves a pearlised effect & STO-Flaconnage are the only UK based supplier able to offer this & now also Hot Foil Stamping, with its ability to lift any container into the luxury class. This too is a first for the UK Personal Care sector. Most stunning of all are the effects provided by the twin spraying lines. Different spray guns can be used in one process, achieving subtle, multi-coloured finishes. Particularly attractive is the process of graduating from one shade or colour into another, as in a bottle produced for Next. The sweeping lines of the custom design bottle resemble a ball gown, an effect heightened and given an emotional dimension by the use of a spray graduated from the palest mauve through purple to a haunting shade tinged with russet. An ever increasing percentage of bottle production is now decorated after production, very much a rising trend. "The ecological & economic demands of today's market place," said Johannes Schick, the international Stölzle Glass Group's CEO, "mean that there is ever increasing pressure from consumers & marketing departments for the brand & the concepts to be represented on the primary containers, thus eliminating & reducing the need for outer packaging. In this context, the flexible twin spraying lines offer infinite possibilies." The expansion of the decoration facility has incorporated a re-organisation of the flow within the factory. It now provides a seamless progression from glass production, through decoration, to the end product ready for dispatch to client for filling.
