Lumene Group, a leading Finnish skincare and cosmetics company, recently implemented a cutting-edge packaging automation system in its production.
Collaboration with Stora Enso has resulted in several benefits, enhancing efficiency, innovation, and predictability in Lumene Group’s packaging processes.
Lumene Group is a pioneer in circular beauty and a leading manufacturer of beauty products in the Nordics. To reach their ambitious climate goals, their packaging must be sustainable, retain its shape during transport and storage, and be easy to open in store.
The iconic beauty brand has 40 different kinds of tube packages: gels, body lotions, hair care products, and hand creams that need to be packed manually into boxes at the production site.
“We’ve been looking for a packaging machine suitable for this purpose for a long time and heard that Stora Enso had a solution that could meet our needs,” says Jari Tiusanen, Production Development Director at Lumene Group.
A packaging solution with many benefits
Stora Enso proposed a packaging design and packaging automation solution, a wraparound packaging machine that can shape and fold a corrugated board blank around a product group. Österbergs’ W50 machine was based on Lumene Group’s specifications and in line with product and customer requirements. It is ideal for group-packing almost all kinds of foodstuffs and consumer items, and Lumene Group was delighted to look at the new solution.
The machine, supplied by Stora Enso, has improved efficiency in the packaging process, enhanced production predictability, and provided the desired cost savings According to Petri Aalto, Head of Packaging Automation Finland at Stora Enso, the wraparound machine is a result of over 40 years of experience and more than 1,000 delivered machines.
The solution is a reliable and user-friendly packaging machine tailored for customer needs. “It is extremely flexible, which allows us to pack all sizes of shelf-ready foodstuffs and consumer packages for the retail sector,” Aalto says.
Packaging design from the user’s point of view
In addition to the investment in the machine, wraparound packaging and packaging design played an important role in the early stages of the collaboration.According to Tiusanen, the machinability of packaging is crucial. The packaging must also be sustainable and retain its shape during transport and storage until it reaches the store.
“The package must also be recyclable and easy to open in store,” he adds. Tube product packaging was previously done manually at Lumene Group. “The initial purpose of investing in packaging automation wasn’t so much to add speed, but to eliminate manual labour from the line,” he says.
“In addition, the packaging machine has helped to make production more predictable. Variability in production decreased, productivity improved, and employees were given tasks more comfortable than packaging.”
