3D printed packaging

Whether sunscreen, limited editions or new 
fragrances – the cosmetic industry is seasonally inspired and driven by frequent relaunches. To remain efficient and competitive in this fast-moving environment, manufacturers depend on the highly flexible automation of their filling and packaging processes. The breathtaking variety of cosmetic products and packaging requires filling and packaging lines to be adapted to new formats at increasingly shorter intervals. Packaging machine manufacturer Schubert offers its customers an intelligent solution to this challenge with Partbox, a complete 
3D printing system. It enables simple, fast format changes and, as a result, a shorter time-to-market.

The complete Partbox 3D printing system comes from Schubert Additive Solutions and consists of a digital platform where customers can call up and execute certified print jobs in their own production facilities, as well as the 3D printer and suitable plastic material. The Partbox hardware, software and material are perfectly coordinated. With this complete system from a single source, Schubert made a point of designing a convenient and practical solution that can easily be operated by production staff. Schubert provides and maintains the platform, printer and materials for the customer; the cosmetic manufacturer then only needs to carry out the relevant print jobs as required. If the customer owns a Schubert machine, he or she can simply call up the print jobs for spare parts and robot tools on the streaming platform. Format parts which are already in use in the machine can also be reprinted via the QR codes displayed on them. For better and faster orientation and completion of the print job, format parts can be colour-coded or identified via format numbers. Since Partbox is an open system, customers can also use the streaming platform to print 3D parts that have been configured by other machine manufacturers.  

The packaging processes in the machine remain stable even after a adding the self printed parts. Schubert ensures this by using high-precision components such as a milled aluminium frame, recirculating ball spindles and a special guiding technique with which the print head is precisely positioned. The precise dosing of the filament – the 3D printing material – is ensured by an extruder with direct extrusion. A cover over the device rules out environmental influences such as temperature fluctuations or dirt. And the filament itself also ensures consistently high-quality results: The Partbox Black plastic has been optimised for the FDM (Fused Deposition Modelling) printing process. The material is food-grade and detectable with a metal detector. Additionally, very smooth surfaces can be achieved.

In the cosmetic industry, the printed format parts are mainly used in the flexible filling and packaging systems from Schubert. Due to the incredible diversity of primary packaging available on the market – such as bottles, tubes and jars in a wide variety of sizes and shapes – manufacturers often need an extremely large number of change parts when filling cosmetics. A format part is needed wherever the primary packaging comes into contact with the machine. This is why the 3D-printed format parts are mainly located at the last change level of the robots and on the transport systems as holders for the cosmetics packaging. While conventional tools in a packaging machine often cannot handle a variety of primary packaging at all, or not very well, 3D-printed format parts can be perfectly adapted to the different packaging shapes.

Also very important is the great flexibility that cosmetic manufacturers gain from 3D printing, which enables them to achieve a short time-to-market. If new products are launched or existing items are relaunched, manufacturing companies can print their own format parts and no longer have to wait for conventional tools to be manufactured and delivered. The time advantage is huge. Whereas it can take up to half a year for traditional milled tools to be ready, cosmetic manufacturers can expect three to five weeks with 3D printing. This guideline includes the time spanning from the identification of the need to the design of a new 3D format part to the creation of a certified print job. The actual printing takes place within only a few hours. 

However, because a 3D part in a Schubert machine can be exchanged without tools within a very short time, the added flexibility and time savings apply well beyond the ordering process itself. This enables a smooth and speedy production process if, for example, a defective tool needs to be replaced or the machine needs to be changed over to a different product format.

Schubert impressively demonstrated how quickly format changes can work with 3D tools at this year’s interpack on a newly designed TLM Power Compact line for cosmetic manufacturer Börlind. On the filling line, glass jars, glass bottles or plastic bottles are blown out, inspected, filled with liquid cosmetics, sealed and closed with different pump systems and lids. The packaging components are fed via tog.519 cobots, and the filling line processes a total of up to 60 products per minute. When converting from glass bottles to glass jars, only 20 3D format parts needed to be exchanged, for example, the grippers on the cobots. The time required for the complete mechanical changeover was just five minutes. In comparison, conventional format changes can sometimes take several hours.

Efficient, cost-saving packaging processes with fast format changes are the be-all and end-all of a packaging system for cosmetics. And this is why Schubert pursues a special tooling philosophy from the outset when designing a machine, in order to reduce the total number of format changes to a minimum and to ensure that any necessary changes are as simple and quick as possible: Universal tools are used wherever possible in the machine and generally do not need to be changed at all. Where exchangeable 3D format parts make more sense, they are used. 

Conclusion

Cosmetic manufacturers benefit from 3D printing not only because of the high flexibility and time savings it offers, but also due to lower costs: For a new format set, only the 3D parts have to be designed and printed, the universal tools in the line can still be used. At the same time, additive manufacturing of the robotic tools not only saves on material and development costs, but also on the transport route in the case of self-printing. That way, every cosmetic manufacturer can achieve maximum flexibility, time and cost savings with their filling and packaging machine.