Alpla's Studio A steps up its US design capabilities

Global plastic bottle maker Alpla is stepping up design capabilities in the United States with the opening of a new studio created to help customers bring products to market more quickly.

Called Studio A, the new design space is at Alpla's regional headquarters in McDonough, Ga., about 30 miles south of Atlanta.

“We see the market as being one that moves very fast, and packaging changes very quickly to react to customers' needs. That's speeding up, and also there's more diversity in packaging. Just a lot more varieties. So along with that, we need to have the capabilities to go fast, be creative and to help the customers manage that level of complexity and speed to market that they need to win out there,” said Dave Cappadonia, director of sales and marketing for Alpla Inc., the company's North America operations.

Alpla began manufacturing in the United States in 2001 and has grown to 14 locations. Two of the sites have two plants, for a total of 16 operations.

The company uses both extrusion blow molding and injection stretch blow molding to create its containers, and it also injection molds caps. “We can do the total package,” Cappadonia said.

Key markets include both personal care items — including hair care products — and household cleaning products. The company, Cappadonia indicated, is looking to push deeper into the food and beverage markets. “It's an area of growth,” he said. “We see that as a big market we just haven't tapped. We have all the technology capabilities of doing it.”

The new design studio, renovated in an existing space, also allows the company to react to a trend toward more diversity in packaging, he said.

Studio A includes a space where company designers can work with clients to design and develop prototypes that can then be created using 3-D printers. “We can do the design right on site while they are here, that day,” Cappadonia said. “It's especially made for collaboration and sharing of information.”

Parent company Alpla-Werke Alwin Lehner GmbH & Co. KG, based in Hard, Austria, has 159 manufacturing sites and 16,500 employees in 42 countries. Annual sales are $3.6 billion. In North America alone, the company is fourth on Plastics News' ranking of largest blow molders.

“Product life cycles are becoming even shorter, and to stay ahead of the competition our customers need a partner who can provide fast turnaround on new packages either capture attention on the shelf and increase sales,” said Jodok Schaeffler, U.S. regional manager for Alpla, in a statement. “That is what Studio A is all about.”